SHILLONG: In a major breakthrough, Meghalaya police have busted a gang of carjackers and arrested five of its members including a PWD employee even as police are probing their links with the NSCN.
Of the total five, three were arrested from Dimapur and two others from Meghalaya, East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police in-charge Crime, Vivek Syiem told reporters here on Monday.
Police swung into action after a person filed an FIR saying that his Scorpio vehicle was hijacked at gunpoint in Dimapur after being hired from Shillong.
Police initially arrested one Amit Saha from Byrnihat. Acting on the lead provided by Saha, a police team under Syiem conducted an operation in Dimapur with the assistance of the local police there.
Three persons of the gang — Hinoto Zhimo, Ngukata and Atomu Aye — were arrested from Dimapur.
Later, one Jagdish Singh, a grade IV employee of the PWD (Roads) posted at Mawsynram, was arrested. Singh was instrumental in providing the gang member all logistic support and information about police movements and identification of vulnerable vehicles, the senior police official said.
According to Syiem, all the accused persons have admitted to their involvement in the crime.
Syiem said, “The modus operandi of the gang is to pose themselves as passengers and hijacked the vehicles at gun point and the gang has admitted their involvement not only in these cases but also in other cases which were registered in various police stations in Assam and Meghalaya.”
Syiem also said the weapons these gang members used belong to the militant outfit – NSCN in Nagaland adding they must have borrowed the weapons from them.
On their link with the outfit, Syiem said, “They may be having some link but we are yet to establish their linkage with the outfit.”
Meanwhile, a local court on Monday remanded the five arrested persons to six days police custody.