TURA: The arrest of a criminal gang involved in the kidnapping of a road construction supervisor has revealed that the group was working for the United A’chik Liberation Army while using the name of the GNLA to extort ransom.
The breakthrough came about after the arrest of the four kidnappers who spilled the beans that they were working for the UALA outfit and were using GNLA letter pads and seals to demand money from the victim’s families.
They claimed that such a modus operandi helped avoid detection as police turned their attention on the GNLA while the gang continued to get away committing more crime.
The arrested members also revealed that they were using GNLA seals specially ordered from a seal maker in Tura.
Tura police have arrested the seal maker Sanjay Das and recovered some GNLA seals ordered by the group for the UALA.
This is not the first instance where militant groups have used the names of their rivals to demand money and kidnap their victims.
Previously also, the ANVC-B and UALA were identified by police to be using each other’s name and also that of the GNLA to commit crime and escape blame.
UALA ultras nabbed
Williamnagar Police have arrested two militants from the UALA after a brief encounter with the group at Samanda on Friday.
SWAT commandos spotted a group of five UALA militants in the Samanda region, near Williamnagar town, at around 5 pm and briefly exchanged fire.
In the operation two UALA militants were nabbed while three others managed to escape. The arrested cadres have been identified as Chirika Momin alias Gominda and Walban Marak. Three mobile phones were recovered from their possession.
