SHILLONG, April 7: Weeks after the state government appointed an interlocutor to sit for talks with the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), a new outfit – Lawei ba Phyrnai – emailed a letter to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday, demanding the release of former HNLC leader Julius K Dorphang by Sunday and threatening to blow up an LP school if their demand was not fulfilled.
The email was shared with several media houses in the state including The Shillong Times.
The mail sent by the publicity secretary of the group, who said that he was a teacher before his contract was terminated, demanded that Dorphang should be released and left alone inside a bus at the ISBT platform at 10:00 pm sharp on 9th of April, 2022 (Sunday).
Dorphang is currently serving a 25-year sentence after having been convicted of raping a minor girl in 2017.
“Don’t wasn’t your time tracking us. This IP address has been coaxed and so was the previous one. Sparing you the trouble, our IP address is 114.143.108.143 after which it would bounce to 158.144.109.170 then to 152.57.86.143 before shifting from 158.144.114.36; 103.226.236.243; 158.144.59.70 and finally 114.143.108.89,” the email read.
“I know this is turning to a numbers game, thanks to our tech expert software engineer Organising Secretary. I know what you’re thinking. Why did this M.Tech student turn to a rebel group? First, blame it on yourself. Second, I guess it lies in the job description; who, after all, is least likely to confuse the radio with the landing gear, or the red wire with the green!,” the mail continued.
Earlier on April 1, the group had sent its first email to the CM, Governor and some police officials wherein it had identified itself as a “terror group” formed by 37 “qualified jobless youth” and had threatened that bombs will detonate every single week starting from May 1, 2022.
“Our first target is the MBOSE building; next will be St. Anthony’s School and College where I passed out from. And even NEHU where I received my diploma. And yes, we will keep planting bombs till you and your government come up with a solution to employ ever single Meghalayan out there,” the mail said.
The groups had claimed that they had free sponsored arms and ammunition whose capability and strength will come to display in a couple of weeks from now.
The email “congratulated” the CM on getting the HNLC, which it called a “petty” insurgent group, to “surrender but don’t ever think you’ll get us to do the same”.
“…don’t waste your precious time tracking us. Better get your team moving to detect the first bomb. Time is ticking now. All the best!” read the email which was copied to Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Sanjib Banerjee, Labour Minister Sanbor Shullai, Principal Secretary GHP Raju and six others.