Militant arrested in Meghalaya
By IANSWednesday, July 21, 2010
SHILLONG - A top Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militant was arrested in Meghalaya Wednesday, police said.
John R. Marak alias Sashan, a self-styled ‘area commander’ of Bajengdoba, was arrested from the Rari area in the state’s East Garo Hills district.
Police seized one 9 mm pistol with seven rounds of ammunition, extortion notes and the outfit’s receipt book.
“Sashan has been on the lookout for quite sometime. He is number eight ranked in the GNLA and his arrest would help us in generating more information about GNLA activities,” Sylvester Nongtynger, the police chief of East Garo Hills, told IANS.
The GNLA has served several extortion notes to businessmen and even politicians from the Garo Hills. The group is especially active in the coal-rich belt of the three districts of Garo Hills.
The GNLA, which is fighting for a ’sovereign Garoland’ in the western area of Meghalaya, has links with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.
