TURA: A militant group in Meghalaya on Thursday threatened to execute a government official they had abducted four days ago.
The Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) said they would kill Jude Rangku T Sangma if the government failed to pull back ongoing operations against all militant groups in the Garo Hills of the northeastern Indian state.
Sangma, a Catholic of Tura diocese and a past pupil of a Salesian school, was abducted Tuesday allegedly for rejecting extortion demands from the militants. However, the ultras said they took Sangma into custody to question his handling of funds meant for development of Garo Hills.
The BDO was kidnapped from Deku Deganggre area at gunpoint while he and two others were on their way to Tura in a government vehicle. Chokpot is about 60 km from Tura in West Garo Hills and about the same distance from Baghmara.
The official has been serving as the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Chokpot for the past two years.
On Thursday, leaders of several government and civil rights group organized a silent procession at Baghmara, the district headquarters of South Garo Hills, to demand what they said was an upright official who refused to take bribe or succumb to underground militants’’ illegal demands.
The threat to kill Sangma came after the police deployed additional forces in an attempt to rescue the officer.
In a release issued on Thursday by the outfit’s joint publicity secretary, Garo Mandei Marak, said, “If the Government doesn’t stop and withdraw operations against us and others in the Garo Hills region immediately within this week, then we will be compelled to shoot the Meghalaya State Government official who is still in our custody.”
“We won’t hesitate to shoot him (Jude Rangku Sangma) and dispose his body anywhere from where it might never reach to his family and loved ones,” the release stated.
In the wake of the BDO’s kidnap, the police have launched a massive operation in Chokpot area of South Garo Hills, which is a hotbed of insurgency, the Assam Tribune reported.
“The GNLA is asking the family members of the BDO and the Government to withdraw the operations against us immediately from the entire region of Garo Hills for the month of November,” the outfit said.
The outfit gave October 31 as the deadline for the government to withdraw operations against them. It also released Sangma’s photos showing him under their custody.
It also said that if by any chance any police operation team arrived at the spot where the official was being held, the GNLA would immediately kill him. “In order to avoid such happenings and accident, we demand the withdrawal of operations from the entire region… Or else we will be left with no option and negotiation,” the release further said.
Intensified operations are still on in the area to rescue the official. “We are yet to locate his whereabouts,” said the police sources. The police claimed that the outfit’s western range commander, Hedio C Momin, who hails from Chokpot area, kidnapped the official.