Shillong, Oct 6 (IANS) A Meghalaya transport official and his driver abducted Sep 30 continue to be in the captivity of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels, police said Wednesday even as the militant outfit said the hostages may be released unharmed.
Five armed GNLA rebels kidnapped R. Syngkon, district transport officer (DTO) of East Garo Hills district, and his driver from his official residence in Williamnagar in west Meghalaya.
‘The operations to rescue the abducted persons are on. They (abducted persons) are very much in the state and are safe,’ Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) S.K. Jain told IANS Wednesday.
Additional Meghalaya Police force along with Central Reserve Police Force personnel have been pressed into service for the rescue operation, he said.
The GNLA, headed by police officer-turned-rogue Champion R. Sangma, had earlier sent extortion demands of Rs.60 lakh to Syngkon through mobile text messages. However, Syngkon did not comply with the demand.
‘The reason for the abduction of the officer is that he crossed the limit of corruption,’ Sohan D. Shira, chief of the GNLA’s military, was quoted in a local English daily as saying.
Shira, however, said that ‘the outfit kidnapped the DTO not to kill but to teach him a lesson by using force’. He also assured that the official would be ‘released unharmed’.
‘It’s just a matter of time now for the GNLA to release the official. Public pressure is mounting on them and the police are behind them,’ East Garo Hills district Deputy Commissioner P. Bakshi told IANS.
The GNLA, which is fighting for a sovereign Garoland in western Meghalaya, is believed to have links with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
