TURA: Sustained anti-militancy operations by Meghalaya police against the banned GNLA may have forced the once feared rebel group to take to its heels as special trained police commandos embark on its ‘hot pursuit’ operation to nab Sohan D Shira who continues to try every page in the book to elude the security dragnet.
But it is the cross border criminals from neighbouring Bangladesh who are now raising their ugly heads by indulging in abduction and extortion.
Taking advantage of the dense forested terrain dotting the Garo Hills border where the border fencing witnesses ‘pockets of vulnerability’ criminals are crossing over to commit crime with impunity.
The midnight abduction of a 70-year-old retired teacher and father of a missionary priest in Rongara village of south Garo Hills has proven that cross border gangs are striking without the fear of getting caught.
Rongara region was once a hotbed for militancy with the GNLA and other lesser known outfits such as ASAK using it as a base for hideouts and laying of ambush on security forces.
With the ongoing ‘Hill storm’ operation of the state police the area has been literally cleared of rebel positions who have fled further inland towards Balpakram national park or across the international border.
With the exit of the rebels comes the gang from the other side of the border.
The modus operandi of the groups, according to police sources, is to have a linkage with a local inside Indian territory, who would identify the potential victim and prepare a chart of the operation.
At the appropriate time, always in the dead of night or towards the early part of the morning, the gang would cross over and commit the crime before returning to their safe location across the international border with the full knowledge that Indian forces will have to halt on the Indian side of the border.
This has been the case in almost every abduction case in the border belt ranging from Rongara to Mahendraganj in Garo Hills and all the way to Borsora in South West Khasi Hills.
Some of the recent cases involving Bangladeshi criminals in abduction of Indian nationals have taken place in Mahendraganj, Borsora and now Rongara.
In November last year, 40 year old pharmacist Shankar Barman was returning home from his shop in Mahendraganj town when Bangladeshi criminals waylaid his scooter near Kumarkatti locality and took him away.
He was subsequently released and pushed back from across the Bangladesh side only after the family paid ransom for his safe release.
In South West Khasi Hills, a coal baron, Dinar Syiemlieh, was kidnapped at gunpoint by criminals who took him inside Bangladesh territory in December, last year. He returned safely only after money changed hands.
Fortunately, police were able to identify the head of the criminal gang, Pradeep D Sangma, who was subsequently arrested from Gasuapara area of South Garo Hills while trying to flee a police operation.
There are several other cases of abduction, cattle lifting, car and bike theft involving criminals from across the border. Last year, a three member gang was given a hot chase by villagers from Sibbbari area while they were trying to take a two wheeler across. One of the criminals was lynched by an irate mob.
Despite the presence of the BSF on vigil at the border sources reveal that the paramilitary force is overstretched when it comes to deployment of its personnel.
“Bangladeshi criminals are known to keep an eye on the movement of the border troops, particularly during the changing of the guard, and take advantage of openings in the fencing. They also make use of the river for safe crossings,” say locals from the border belt of Garo Hills.
