TURA: One of the surviving members of the now-extinct Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), who had been holed up inside Bangladesh for well over four years, has been finally arrested in Garo Hills.
Senior GNLA militant Nikrak M Sangma alias Kaltush was nabbed in remote Rongara area, close to the international border, by a special police team from Baghmara on Sunday afternoon.
The militant had crossed over from Bangladesh dressed as a villager when he was intercepted.
South Garo Hills police chief Abraham T Sangma told The Shillong Times that police had received credible information from their sources that Kaltush with support from ULFA cadres and criminal gangs from the neighbouring country was planning to revive the GNLA, which had ceased to exist after the death of its commander-in-chief, Sohan D Shira, in a police encounter in East Garo Hills in 2018.
Prior to Sohan’s death, Kaltush had been operating from the neighbouring country with logistical support for the outfit.
He had been deputed by Sohan to Bangladesh in 2015 to supervise the shipment of uniforms, arms and ammunition for the outfit.
A member of the 3rd batch of GNLA cadres who underwent arms training in the Garo Hills forests, Kaltush had joined the rebel group in 2011.
Following the death of Sohan Shira, the remaining group of GNLA militants operating in Garo Hills had surrendered to the authorities.
However, Kaltush, who was based in Bangladesh and knew the operational methods of the group and the routes used for smuggling weapons, kept a low profile and did not surrender.
Garo Hills police claim he was the mastermind behind a series of kidnappings of civilians for ransom in the southern district.
Those abducted were most of the time taken across the border and released only after the ransom was paid.
With his arrest, police are optimistic they will get to know the progress made by Kaltush and the ULFA in trying to regroup the GNLA.
Meanwhile, reacting to reports that he had connections with Kaltush, former GNLA chairman and President, AHAM CEB Tura, Champion R Sangma on Monday said he had never known “this surrenderee” and accused the police of pointing fingers at him every time something went wrong.
“I never knew this surenderee by the name Nikman, nor had I seen his face! I’ve given my sim number to Intelligence branch, each and everyone knew my number,” he said in a statement. He said police intelligence apparatus was bogus and untrustworthy.
“It’s just politics and nothing to do with reality,” he said adding it is the handiwork of some vested interests as the version of South Garo Hills SP is completely different.
