TURA, July 24: After months of painstaking search, North Garo Hills police has finally apprehended a former commander of the banned GNLA outfit, Rahul R Marak, who was on the run and was operating an extortion racket after becoming a leader of the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC).
The police team on Friday closed in on the hideout of Marak inside Kharding village of Assam and arrested him from his relative’s residence in the village.
A member of the second batch of recruit cadres to pass out of jungle warfare training by the GNLA, the former commander, who never surrendered and was instead captured, had served a jail term and was out on bail.
He joined the GSMC and used his position to set up a well-oiled extortion machinery, collecting illegal tax from transporters, traders and producers.
A sort of history-sheeter, Marak is said to be the prime culprit in the burning of the Soksan wooden bride in North Garo Hills on the night of April 11, 2021, during a bandh called by groups from Garo Hills.
In the same month, he tried attacking picnickers by the riverside with a dagger after an altercation.
Although a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Marak, he went into hiding in the neighbouring state.
