Student freed; gang identified
TURA: The group behind the shooting of an unarmed police constable and abduction of his friend from the Tura-Dalu road has been identified even as the gang has released the victim from captivity following the seizure of the vehicles used in the crime and arrest of a woman and three persons.
Twenty-five year old Tura B.Ed student Saumendu Chakraborty was released on Sunday and has safely reached his home in Chaipani, Dalu.
The family has been tight lipped about any payment of ransom money although sources have indicated that the gang had demanded Rs 5 lakh.
Tura police made a breakthrough into the shooting and kidnapping case on Sunday after they seized the vehicle and a motorcycle used in the crime. They also arrested a woman, Misbell R Marak (23) who happened to be the wife of the gang leader William S Sangma.
She was arrested from her village, Balmagre, 6 kms from Dobasipara, Tura. She reportedly confessed to police that she had tried to wipe off the evidence of the crime by washing the car to remove the blood stains after the gang had shot the police constable Avijeet Mazumdar when he made a dash for freedom.
The other three persons, Tulip Marak, Nikseng Momin and Simseng Marak, all from Balmagre village, were taken into custody for sheltering the kidnappers’ gang and giving them required help.
The arrests have revealed that it was not a militant outfit but a gang of dacoits who orchestrated the abduction of the student and attempted to kill in cold blood an unarmed police officer who was going on leave to his home town.
The police constable Avijeet is currently stable and undergoing medical treatment in a Guwahati hospital.
The kidnappers’ gang is led by William S Sangma, who hails from Dudhnoi in Assam.
He is believed to have fled to Assam shortly after releasing the victim. He was earlier arrested for his involved in several kidnapping and extortion cases and was jailed for sometime before being released on bail.
The gang is reported to have in their possession for pistols which have been used extensively to commit crime.
GNLA denial: Meanwhile, a lower-rung member of the GNLA has claimed that his outfit was not involved in the IED attack on a police party at Tebronggre on Friday and has blamed other forces for the incident even though all indications point to the involvement of the banned outfit which is known to be the only armed group that has explosive expertise.
GNLA cadre Savio R Marak, a police deserter, issued a statement to the media denying his organization’s involvement and accused the Meghalaya government of blaming his group without concrete evidence.
“Why do the police and the government blame us for every crime that is taking place in Garo Hills when they know that there are many militant groups active in Garo Hills?” questioned the GNLA cadre.
“We would like to send our strong message of denial that GNLA has no hand in the IED explosion,” he added.
The self-styled spokesman of the group has claimed that there was no order from the top leaders of the outfit to carry out such a mission and even added that it’s higher authorities had given orders to stop violence, crime and extortion.
“This is clearly an indication to malign our image. Somebody in the big place is trying to distort our image and derail our peace process,” claimed the GNLA militant.