Shillong, July 30: The self-styled chairman of Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), Champion R. Sangma, was today arrested by Meghalaya police, months after he was reportedly detained in neighbouring Bangladesh.
“He has been arrested today, and the court has remanded him to 15 days’ police custody,” Meghalaya director-general of police N. Ramachandran told The Telegraph.
Official sources said Champion was arrested from the Umkrem-Pyrdiwah area under East Khasi Hills district, on the Indo-Bangladesh border. The area is around 80km from here.
As Champion had been reportedly under Bangladesh custody since November last year, it was not clear whether he was pushed back into Indian territory by security forces from the neighbouring country in the absence of an extradition treaty.
In recent years, top militant leaders like Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and National Democratic Front of Bodoland chief Ranjan Daimary were pushed back to India from Bangladesh along the international border in the Meghalaya sector.
The other militant leaders who were pushed back earlier included Ulfa deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah, its foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury and finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika.
Champion had once been a part of the same Meghalaya police holding the rank of a deputy superintendent.
His last reported assignment in uniform was as an assistant commandant at the 2nd Meghalaya Police Battalion in Goeragre near Tura, West Garo Hills district.
In late 2009, Champion was reported to have left the police force to float the militant outfit along with former A’chik National Volunteer Council leader Sohan D. Shira.
Shira has been holding the rank of a self-styled commander-in-chief of the GNLA.
However, since November 24 last year, it was reported that Champion had been detained by Rapid Action Battalion commandos from Haluaghat in Mymensingh district in the northwestern part of Bangladesh.
The outfit has been creating terror, particularly in the Garo hills region of western Meghalaya, by indulging in the killing of policemen and civilians where more than 35 people had lost their lives.
Following the rise in its illegal activities, the Centre, on January 12, declared the GNLA as a “terrorist organisation” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Since 2010, the Meghalaya government had been engaging personnel from the Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) to aid the state police in flushing out the GNLA rebels from the Garo hills region.
Besides the combing operations undertaken by CoBRA and Meghalaya’s Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team, several GNLA militants have also come overground to surrender along with arms and ammunition. Champion’s arrest also comes a few days after Meghalaya police arrested some people from the city and also from West Garo Hills allegedly involved in striking an arms deal for the outfit.
Apart from operating in the Garo Hills, the police have also been maintaining that GNLA cadres have been making their presence felt in the coal mining areas of West Khasi Hills district with the intention to extort from the coal traders.
