MENDIPATHAR, Feb 12: Two senior leaders of the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC), chairman Balkarin Marak and Rayan Marak are said to be on the run after the interim bail granted by a court in the North Garo Hills district was recently cancelled.
The two, along with many others were accused of forcibly shutting down a petrol pump in Mendipathar after their demands for money were not met by the fuel pump attendants.
According to the FIR, the group had demanded ₹10 lakh from the fuel outlet.
The amount was later reduced to ₹2 lakh, which the fuel pump attendants declined to pay.
The GSMC members had accused the pump of adulteration and giving customers less than what they pay for.
One of the group members was Nrilen Deka, who had been arrested by the West Garo Hills police for impersonating an oil company representative and demanding huge sums of money from the fuel station below Hawakhana in Tura.
On January 6, the GSMC leaders along with some other miscreants had entered the fuel station owned by Prakash Ch Momin and assaulted the pump attendants. They also filled up all the vehicles they came in without paying for the fuel.
The miscreants also snatched the keys to the pump and returned them only after the fuel station owner lodged the FIR. The entire incident had been captured on the CCTV available at the fuel station. There were eyewitnesses too.
After the FIR, the Mendipathar police under North Garo Hills launched an investigation and arrested four people for involvement in the incident. Balkarin and Rayan were able to get away and later secured interim bail from the court.
Following a hearing in the case a few days ago, the court cancelled the bail but the two leaders are said to be untraceable since.
“We have a few leads and are working on apprehending them,” North Garo Hills superintendent of police, Abraham T Sangma said.