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Have informed MHA about the South West Khasi Hills incident: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma
Sangma said the preliminary investigation had indicated the group was a criminal gang which intended to kidnap the victim
SHILLONG: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday said the group that carried out an armed raid on a village along the border in Meghalaya’s South West Khasi Hills (SWKH) district may have been a criminal gang from across the border.
Sangma said the state government has reported the case to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). “We have informed the MHA and the IB about what happened at the SWKH border,” he told HT.
The chief minister added that the preliminary investigation had indicated the group was a criminal gang which intended to kidnap the victim and that there was no evidence so far of links to Bangladeshi agencies. “However, the probe is ongoing, especially after the recovery of a Bangladesh police identity card,” Sangma said.
Six suspects including the gang leader, a Bangladesh police constable, have been arrested by the police and the Border Security Force (BSF), he said, adding that security has been strengthened along the border “to ensure the safety of residents and to prevent such incidents in the future”. One of the six suspects died in custody shortly after his arrest due to injuries sustained when the villagers thrashed him.
The chief minister said villagers reported that the suspects tried to escape back into Bangladesh but lost their way. Security forces later arrested them.
The incident took place at about 1 a.m. on August 9 when a gang of 8–9 suspected Bangladeshi nationals entered Rongdangai village. Balsrang A. Marak, a 24-year-old, was asleep in his uncle’s shop with the door unlatched when the group barged in, tied him up and beat him up. The suspects also fired a shot in the air to scare him.
The attackers left Balsrang grievously injured at the scene before escaping into the darkness. He managed to cry for help, prompting irate villagers to mount an immediate manhunt with police and BSF support.
The joint search led to the capture of six suspects over the following days, one of whom — identified as Akram of Sherpur district, Bangladesh — died from injuries sustained after being assaulted by villagers. Police have registered a suo motu case and are investigating the circumstances of his death.
On August 12, BSF and police sealed escape routes and recovered a country-made explosive.
“We will not allow any cross-border threat to go unanswered,” said BSF Meghalaya Frontier inspector general OP Upadhyay.
The Border Security Force (BSF) Meghalaya Frontier, in coordination with the Meghalaya Police and over 200 villagers, is conducting a search operation in the Majersora–Hathinala forest belt area to apprehend the remaining intruders.
