Abducted Meghalaya official still untraced

SHILLONG - Twenty-one days have passed but there is no trace of the transport officer kidnapped by Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) in Meghalaya, state Home Minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh said Wednesday.

Five armed men of GNLA Sep 30 kidnapped Rominus Syngkon, district transport officer (DTO) of East Garo Hills district, and his driver from his residence in Williamnagar in western Meghalaya.

“The police have not been able to trace the abducted official as he is being kept in a dense forest,” Lyngdoh told IANS.

Nonetheless, he said the police are making all efforts to secure the safe release of the official and his driver.

“Our inputs suggest that the official is safe and is being held captive in Meghalaya,” the home minister said.

The GNLA, headed by police officer-turned-rogue Champion R. Sangma, had earlier sent extortion demands of Rs.60 lakh to Syngkon through text messages. However, Syngkon did not yield to the demand.

“The reason for the abduction of the official is that he crossed the limit of corruption,” Sohan D. Shira, chief of the GNLA military, was earlier quoted in a local English daily as saying.

Shira, however, said that “the outfit kidnapped the DTO not to kill but to teach him a lesson by using force”. He also assured media that the official would be “released unharmed”.

“Intensive combing operations are on and we are putting all efforts to rescue them,” said Sylvester Nongtynger, police chief of the district.

The GNLA, demanding a sovereign Garoland in western Meghalaya, is believed to have links with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).