Shillong: A senior Meghalaya Police officer has allegedly abandoned his post to form a militant group which is carrying out extortions in the state.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Champion Sangma has been absent from office for over an year now. Police suspect he is the self-styled commander-in-chief of Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), which is accused of extorting amounts ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore from businessmen, coal merchants and petrol depot owners.
A top police officer said Sangma's salary has been stopped and the state is trying to trace him.
Sangma was posted as the Assistant Commandant of the Second Meghalaya Police Battalion at Goeragre in West Garo Hills district when he abandoned the force.
Sohan Shira, a former member of the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), a rebel group which is under ceasefire and currently engaged in talks with the government, is said to be the second man behind GNLA.
The GNLA, active in East Garo Hills and South Garo Hills districts of the state, has been on an extortion spree over the last few weeks.
Liberation Achik Elite Force (LAEF), another rebel group operating in Garo hills region of the state, was floated by another deserting policeman, Peter Marak, with the help of the NSCN(IM). Marak was later killed in an encounter in August, 2007.
Comments
0 comment