Thaindian News

Shillong, Jan 27 (IANS) Two Meghalaya government engineers kidnapped three days ago by the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels remained untraced Friday even as the outfit’s military wing chief Sohan D. Shira gave the slip to the police, an official said.

On Jan 24, armed GNLA rebels abducted three Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) engineers - Apus Pothmi, Boney Majaw and Marshal R. Swer - at gunpoint from their quarters in Rongkhon area, 318 km west of Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya. However, Swer was later released unharmed.

“We (security forces) have not been able to trace the abducted engineers as they are being kept in a dense forest,” Director General of Police N. Ramachandran told IANS.

Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Meghalaya’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos have been pressed into service to trace the hostages.

Though intelligence agencies and the state police believe the engineers were abducted for ransom by the tribal Garo outfit, the GNLA has claimed they kidnapped the MeECL engineers due to failure of their top officers to provide electricity in rural areas of Garo Hills.

“The MeECL engineers were kidnapped because there are many villages in Garo Hills where people from Below Poverty Line have not been provided electricity. They have only connected the wires to show that work is done, and this shows the officials neglected their work,” GNLA Political Secretary Bikdot Nikjang Marak informed a section of journalists.

Cautioning that government officials from Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills, would not be the only ones who will be taken hostage by GNLA, the GNLA political secretary said: “Any official found corrupt or neglecting development of Garo Hills will be punished by us. Our cadres are now everywhere in Garo Hills and we have the capability to reach them any time and place. How much security can the government provide to them?”

The family members of the abducted officials, who have been praying for their safe return, said they have no information about Pothmi and Majaw.

Meanwhile, the Meghalaya Police came close to nabbing Sohan D. Shira, the outfit’s military wing chief Thursday but he managed to escape, police said Friday.

Based on specific inputs about the presence of Shira in one of his hideouts near Nengmendalgre village in East Garo Hills district, a team of SWAT commandos rushed to the hideout to nab the GNLA chief but it was unsuccessful due to presence of his family members, Inspector General of Police (Western Range) G.H.P. Raju said.

“Had the team opened fire, the women, and kids would have died. But we refrained from opening fire as we don’t want loss of lives in fight against such criminals,” Raju said.

The GNLA, headed by police officer-turned outlaw Champion R. Sangma, has unleashed a reign of terror in the three impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the western part of Meghalaya.

However, Indian intelligence officials believe Champion has been “arrested” by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) commandos Nov 23 night from Haluaghat in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.

Over 20 people, including security personnel, have been killed in the area in the last one year by GNLA rebels.

Champion, who claims to be fighting for a separate Garoland, has been camping in Bangladesh for several months in search of support.

The outfit has also forged an alliance with the Bangladesh-based rebel group, A’chik Special Dragon Party.

Meghalaya shares a 443-km border with Bangladesh, part of which is porous, hilly and unfenced and prone to infiltration.