SHILLONG, Aug 2: The Tura Police has denied the allegations that state BJP vice-president Bernard N Marak has been framed.
The police had raided Rimpu Bagan, Marak’s farmhouse at Edenbari on the outskirts of Tura on July 22 and recovered arms and ammunition besides claiming to have found evidence that the place was being run as a brothel. Five minors were also rescued from the farmhouse.
Vivekananda Singh, the West Garo Hills district’s Superintendent of Police told The Shillong Times on the phone that Marak is being interrogated and the police will provide the details of the case only to the court.
“There is no framing as alleged and the recoveries were made in the presence of witnesses and government officials,” he said, adding that Rimpu Bagan is a vast area and the police are yet to search the whole area.
The Tura Police had written to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) to ascertain the area and ownership of the land on which the 30-room farmhouse stands. The district administration has also ordered a magisterial inquiry to ascertain the details about the property.
The SP also said the police never invited any media house for the raid since such searches are done in secrecy. But some police noticed the police movement and since all the boys and girls who were detained had mobile phones, the word about the raid could have spread.
“The police started the raid at 6 pm and the representative of one media house came to cover it at midnight on their own. If other reporters had come, we would have allowed them as well. There was no issue with that,” Singh said.
He said the updates of the case are being entered into the case diary and the court is being informed accordingly.
The leadership of Meghalaya’s BJP unit and the party’s state in charge, M. Chuba Ao had earlier alleged that Marak had been framed and that the raid was questionable.
Ao asked why Marak had been singled out when others were operating similar resorts in and around Tura.
While the state BJP leadership barring MLAs Sanbor Shullai and AL Hek have stood behind Marak, the party’s central leadership has remained mum on the matter.
