TURA: North Garo Hills police have made a major breakthrough into three separate incidents that rocked the district in recent weeks following the arrests of a prime accused in the attack on a weekly market along the national highway and nabbing the culprits involved in the attack on a fuel station and abduction of a nine-year-old child. Dainadubi police caught up with Lapton Ch Marak, a child kidnapper, who was involved in the abduction of 9-year-old Bonsrang Ch Marak. The child was kidnapped from the village of Depa Andok under Mendipather police station and the family reportedly had to pay a substantial amount of money as ransom for his safe release. On Friday night police picked up Yaqub Ali alias Bhola Ali for his involvement in the attack on Sarangma petrol pump on July 1 in which money to the tune of Rs 40,000 was looted by an armed gang.
The accused, married to a Garo woman from Chima Impel village, was the leader of the gang that attacked the petrol station on that day and took away the entire earnings of the station. Police revealed that he is part of the same group led by Mathew Marak and Raban Basumatary (NDFB) which has been using the name of LAEF outfit to extort money in Garo Hills.
In the meantime, Bajengdoba police have swiftly moved in and taken into custody one of the prime accused in the attack on Gokolgre market of North Garo hills which caused a sensation in the region.
Police caught up with Marsing R Marak who is the main accused in the Gokolgre attack which took place at the village market straddled on the National Highway 51, which begins from Paikan in Assam and ends at Dalu along the Garo Hills border with Bangladesh.
A group of armed men suspected to belong to the A;chik National cooperative Army (ANCA), a ragtag group of criminals, attacked the Gokolgre market on Sunday last opening blank fire and looting traders of their daily earnings. They also took away all the recharge coupons for mobile phones amounting to several dozen numbers from a shop in the market.
The breakthroughs have come three days after the nine year old son of a banker was released by his abductors in Chibinang area of West Garo Hills district.
A local gang of dacoits barged into the home of Meghalaya Apex Bank Limited (MCAB) staffer Anwar Hussain and took away his nine year old son Lobayad Abrar Wasi on Monday night. He was released unharmed on Wednesday evening at an isolated spot in Gaptuli reserve forest between Chininang and Tikrikilla, police informed.
“The entire kidnapping operation was orchestrated by a local criminal gang and we have obtained some leads and working on the case,” informed district police chief Mukesh Kr Singh.