Family reportedly pays Rs 5 lakh to abductors
TURA: Retired Don Bosco School teacher of Tura, Gaganendra Sanyal, who was kidnapped at gunpoint from his house at Zekabari area near Garobadha on May 9, was released unharmed on Friday evening near Praharinagar locality on the outskirts of Tura town.
The 70-year-old former Scouts and Guides master of Don Bosco school was released at around 6 pm, two weeks after gunmen stormed his residence at Zekabari where he was helping out as a teacher at the Ram Krishna mission which provides free education and hostel facilities for orphans and the downtrodden.
Police have zeroed in on the A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK) outfit, a breakaway of the GNLA, as the prime suspects in the kidnap of the former teacher.
Tura police claim that a group of individuals working for the ASAK outfit from the Rangsakona region played a key role in the abduction of Sanyal.
“There is involvement of a group of people from Rangsakona and we picked up one key suspect for questioning. We had intelligence inputs about master Sanyal being kept in the Jelbongpara area of Ampati-Rangsakona and we were tracking their movement when the kidnappers released him,” said Additional district police chief Bruno A Sangma while speaking to The Shillong Times.
He added that an all out operation could have ‘jeopardized’ his security and the ransom money allegedly was handed over in Selsella region. Money to the tune of Rs 5 lakh is alleged to have been paid by the family to the abductors.
Meanwhile, the family of master Sanyal has reportedly not cooperated with Tura police in the run up to his release.
“The family did not co-operate with us even when we had information that he was likely to be released on Friday,” said the additional SP. The place of his release, Praharinagar, 12 kms from Tura and on the road to Damalgre, has so far not been confirmed by police.
Attempts at contacting the family members proved futile since Friday night but family sources have revealed that the retired teacher expressed his unwillingness to return to Tura shortly after his ordeal was over.
He is learnt to have left Garo Hills for an undisclosed location with his family to recuperate over the physical and mental agony he went through during his time in captivity.