The
Shillong Times reports that
some miscreants believed to be
Garo National Liberation Army
(GNLA)
sympathizers set ablaze the house
of Gaonbura (village headman)
of Soenang Rabha in East Garo
Hills District at 1.30am on July
31. Police sources claim that
GNLA cadre, identified as Piliport,
and his party are behind the incident
which is aimed at diverting the
attention of Security Forces.
GNLA cadres operating in the Mendipathar
and Resubelpara areas are intentionally
fomenting communal tension between
the Garos and Rabhas so that Police
attention is diverted towards
maintaining communal harmony,
Police sources said.
Meanwhile,
the Border Security Force (BSF)
arrested two Bangladeshis, identified
as Mohammed Noor Alam (18) and
Abdul Kasim (32), from two different
places while they were trying
to infiltrate into India on July
30. Alam was arrested at Dangar
village in East Khasi Hills while
Kasim was arrested from Jaintia
Hills. The BSF party recovered
two mobile phones, four Bangladeshi
SIM cards from Alam while one
mobile along with SIM card was
found with Kasim.
Separately,
a day after the arrest of the
GNLA ‘chairman’ Champion Sangma,
the State Police on July 31 said
the next target would be the ‘Commader-in-Chief’
of the proscribed outfit Sohan
D Shira. The State Director General
of Police (DGP) N Ramachandran
said, “Sohan D Shira who is the
military strategist of the outfit
has to be arrested to neutralize
the GNLA.” According to Ramchandran,
Champion Sangma was looking after
the political activities of the
outfit, while Sohan D Shira was
the head of its armed wing. The
DGP said the arrest of Champion
is a very significant development
and it will help police to neutralise
the outfit which has unleashed
a reign of terror in Garo Hills.
Champion, whose outfit is fighting
for a separate Garoland, was arrested
from Umkrem, Pyrwdiwah area in
East Khasi Hills District, about
80 kilometers from Shillong, on
July 30, after he was, reportedly,
pushed back by Bangladeshi authorities
across the boundary.
Chief
Minister Mukul Sangma said Champion
was arrested due to sustained
efforts of India and Bangladesh.
“The arrest of Champion is the
result of sustained efforts of
both the Governments (India and
Bangladesh) to eradicate the menace
of terrorism from our soil,” the
Chief Minister said. |
