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Meghalaya BJP claims state VP framed by police in sex racket case
BJP Meghalaya state president Ernest Mawrie said that the party’s state vice-president Bernard N Marak, who is accused of running a prostitution racket, is a victim of political vendetta
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Meghalaya state president Ernest Mawrie on Monday demanded the state government to protect the life of the party’s state vice-president Bernard N Marak, who is accused of running a prostitution racket, and to withdraw all charges against him saying that the case was politically motivated.
Condemning the raid conducted at ‘Rimpu Bagan’, Marak’s resort in Edenbari, Mawrie claimed that the former is a victim of political vendetta.
West Garo Hills district police on Saturday claimed to have busted a sex racket allegedly operating from a building owned by Bernard N Marak leading to the arrest of over 75 people and rescue of five children including a minor girl.
“From the materials recovered at Rimpu Bagan as well as the design of building etc, it appears that the place was being used by Bernard N Marak and his accomplices as a “brothel” for the purpose of prostitution,” WGH police chief Vivekananda Singh Rathore told HT over phone from Tura on Saturday.
“I have personally spoken with renowned and respected individuals from Tura and surrounding areas and I have come to the conclusion that Bernard Marak has been unjustly framed and maligned,” said Ernest Mawrie
Bernard, the former chairman of the disbanded Achik National Volunteer Council-Breakaway (ANVC-B) who has been on the run since Saturday, has been asked by the police to cooperate and report to Shillong Sadar police station at the earliest.
Mawrie said Marak is fearful for his life. “While speaking with Bernard Marak he said that he is fearful for his life. I request the government to protect the life of Shri Bernard Marak and also withdraw all charges against him which are politically motivated to malign the party’s image,” he added.
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The building in which the raid took place is a three-storey building with the ground floor being used as a banquet hall which is rented out for the stated purpose. The first floor comprises 30 rooms which are used for homestay. The second floor is used as a hostel for underprivileged children from different areas of Garo Hills. These children have been staying there since the pandemic and Bernard Marak has been supporting them financially as well. From among the children who were taken away by the police, five are minors who are supported by Bernard Marak and studying in Edenbari School & Auxilium Convent School in Tura,” he said.
Mawrie said that the wife and child of the building’s caretaker and a married couple who run a fast food in the premises were also taken away by the police. “According to the information I have, the people arrested from the resort by the police on 22 July 2022 evening were guests who had paid for their stay. The vehicles confiscated by the police on the same evening belonged to these guests. The general public of Tura would often visit this resort during the weekends for picnics and also staying over,” he added.
The BJP state chief claimed that the guests staying at the resort come from respectable families and branding the resort a ‘brothel’ is highly objectionable and unacceptable. “The manner in which young underprivileged children were being portrayed in poor light is condemnable,” he said.
According to him, the resort has been running for the last three years and there have never been any complaints whatsoever. “It is obvious that these allegations have been made to tarnish the image of the BJP and state vice-president and convener of Garo Hills, Bernard Marak, due to his growing popularity in Garo Hills, specifically Tura South,” Mawrie said.
He alleged that one day before the raid was carried out, the ruling National People’s Party (NPP)’s workers pasted posters all over Tura maligning Bernard Marak. “It is also very clear that it is a political vendetta as Bernard Marak’s mother’s house was also raided without any warrant. This is seen as pure harassment,” he added.
Reacting to the BJP state chief’s statement, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma said that this is a police matter and brushed aside the allegations of political vendetta.
“This is a police matter I have no say in it. The police are proceeding with the case as per the evidence gathered and as per due process of the law,” Sangma told HT while returning from New Delhi after the swearing-in of the President of India. “There is no politics involved, I assure you. The law will take its own course of action,” he added.
