‘Sohan’s return will be a blow to cops’

***File pix: GNLA C-in-C Sohan D Shira***

TURA, SEPT 15: The banned Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) indicated the return of its Commander-In-Chief Sohan D. Shira from Bangladesh and said his return will be a big blow to the Meghalaya police.

Quoting Sohan, GNLA senior militant leader Savio Marak said in the statement that the outfit C-in-C has said, “I never leave my ground from a fight and my return will surely give a big blow to the Meghalaya police. Garoland is our goal and if required all of us in GNLA will shed blood for it.”

The statement issued on Monday quoted Shira as saying that his travel outside the region to Bangladesh is merely a route to other countries that the GNLA members frequently use for our business. He said, “Our business is our fight for Garoland and the fight requires better arms and technologies for the future which those countries provide. It is naïve of the Meghalaya police and its intelligence to think that I ran away to Bangladesh.”

Terming the police stories and criticism against them as false and fabricated, Savio Marak said, “Sohan is our leader and as per his latest decision, he believes that the GNLA must endure all criticisms, false police stories, fabricated operations and false accusations, as Garoland matters most.”

Stating that because of large scale propaganda by the government the issue of Garoland may have become a dream and a laughing story to many but Marak said, “For GNLA it is still the biggest and only driving force that dampen their fear and enable them to fight against the mighty forces of the government. We believe in Garoland and we know what it requires to fuel the fight till we reach there”.

Making a sharp comment against police and its intelligence for keeping a track on Sohan’s whereabouts, the GNLA questioned as to why the police have failed to track down Nurul Islam.

Islam, a Meghalaya cop arrested on charges for raping two minor girls escaped from police custody in June last year. He allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl inside the Ampati police station on March 13 last year. Later on March 31, he raped her sister, 17, at gun point in their house. – From Our Correspondent