Stop counter insurgency operation for release of official: Meghalaya militants

Two days after a government official was abducted in the insurgency-hit Garo Hills of Meghalaya, the banned militant group Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) claimed responsibility for the abduction and demanded immediate withdrawal of counter-insurgency operations in the Garo Hills in exchange for the official’s release.

In a press release, the GNLA on Thursday set the terms for the release of Block Development Officer (BDO) Jude Rangku T Sangma.

“If the government doesn’t stop and withdraw the operations against us and others (militant outfits) within the Garo Hills region immediately within this week, then we (GNLA) will be compelled to shoot/kill the kidnapped Meghalaya government official within this week itself at any location where, thereafter, his body might never be found again even for a proper burial,” GNLA spokesman Garo Mandei Marak said in an email.

Kidnap
Two days ago, heavily armed GNLA rebels abducted the BDO from Diganggre area in South Garo Hills district while he was on his way to Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills.

According to the Meghalaya Police, the BDO was posted in Chokpot block, a stronghold of GNLA.
For more than two years, he has been constantly threatened by the GNLA for extortion but he reportedly never heeded to the militant pressure, police sources added.

The Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) commandos of CRPF and Meghalaya Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos have been tasked to carry out operation to rescue the abducted official, sources added.

Meanwhile, the oldest political party in Mizoram – Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and the BJP on Thursday decided to contest the coming by-poll and elections to Aizawl Municipal Corporation and Lai Autonomous District Council as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This has been a major boost to the saffron party’s future in the Christian majority state.

The ruling Congress has also formed an alliance with the Mizoram People's Conference, another strong regional party in the state.