Setback to peace deal with outfit
SHILLONG: In a setback to the peace deal with the United A’chik Liberation Army (UALA), its commander in chief Norrok X. Momin is on the run and efforts are on to trace him.
Meghalaya DGP S.B Singh told reporters on Thursday that Momin is not traceable and probably he is on the run since there are criminal cases pending against him.
An official source said as per the agreement entered with UALA, while the State Government will examine the status of all the criminal cases involving leaders and cadres who will be subjected to due process of law with regard to FIRs filed against them, non-heinous cases may be withdrawn with the approval of the competent courts.
It was in June last year that UALA was disbanded during an official meeting also attended by Norrok, besides the chairman of the group Novembirth Marak and 68 cadres of the outfit in Tura in the presence of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and others.
Earlier in December 2015, the UALA had signed the peace pact, but Norrok was not present.
It was in February 2013 that UALA was formed by Norrok who was the action commander of ANVC-B.
Later in October 2013, Novembirth, the former self-styled general secretary of GNLA, joined UALA as its chairman.
The militant outfit had also recruited several Garo youths from Goalpara in Assam in the past. Soon after its formation, UALA had declared that they would also fight for the cause of the Garos living in Assam.
Police had earlier confirmed the involvement of UALA in the killing of seven people, including six from the Rabha tribe, in Goalpara on November 3, 2013, prior to the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council elections. Nine persons were injured in the incident.
Intelligence reports had also said that UALA was also allegedly involved in Garo-Rabha conflicts in the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) area of Goalpara and the neighbouring Kamrup (Rural) district. The militant outfit had opposed inclusion of Garos in Assam in the RHAC.
While police and the administration in the past had pointed finger at Norrok for the killing of two jail officials inside Williamnagar jail, the magisterial inquiry did not indict him.