SHILLONG: The impossible appears to have happened! In an unusual turn of events, the otherwise flamboyant and yet reclusive commander-in-chief of the GNLA, Sohan D Shira, has joined the chorus in condemning both the murder of the hapless woman as well as its perpetrator, Tenton, who was supposedly working at the behest of his higher ups.
Breaking his silence on this gruesome act of murder and mayhem, Sohan claimed ignorance and accused prime suspect Tenton to be a deserter who has supposedly gone against the GNLA and its objectives.
Interestingly, the claim of Sohan comes a day after his very own area commander of Chokpot, Jangjang R Sangma, had claimed responsibility for the execution of the 35-year-old mother of four, supposedly a police informer. The Chokpot commander had revealed that Tenton was sent with a seven-member execution squad on the orders of the ‘higher ups’ to carry out the task. While admitting to the murder, the Chokpot command of the outfit denied the charges of molestation and maintained that its members follow a ‘sacrosanct’ code of honour while dealing with women.
However, the GNLA supremo Sohan has termed Tenton a deserter claiming, “Tenton and others have maligned the image of GNLA. Nowhere in the history of GNLA have we tolerated this manner of act or crime against women be it our own cadre or others.”
“Such mindless acts on women are never perpetrated by the organisation which has a high regard for women in keeping with the Garo matrilineal society,” added Sohan.
He attributed the delayed response of the GNLA to a ‘connectivity’ error given the remoteness of his locational coordinates.