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Meghalaya BJP vice-president accused of running prostitution ring arrested in Uttar Pradesh: Police
Meghalaya BJP vice-president Bernard N Marak who is accused of operating a prostitution racket at his farmhouse in the West Garo Hills district was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday
Shillong: Meghalaya Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Bernard N Marak who is accused of operating a prostitution racket at his farmhouse in the West Garo Hills district was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, a senior police officer said.
Marak was arrested in Hapur district by the Uttar Pradesh Police, said Meghalaya director general of police (DGP) LR Bishnoi. “He was arrested during checking of vehicles on the national highway by UP police and it came after a look out notice against him was issued by the Meghalaya Police,” he added.
A senior police officer requesting anonymity said a team is being sent there to bring him to Tura in Meghalaya.
Marak, the former chairman of the disbanded rebel outfit Achik National Volunteer Council-Breakaway (ANVC-B), was absconding following a police raid at his farmhouse at Tura in the West Garo Hills district, from where six minors were rescued and 73 people were arrested on Saturday.
Police said the BJP leader was instructed to cooperate with the investigation and surrender at Shillong Sadar police station but he was evading arrest.
On Monday, a court in Tura issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the BJP leader, who is facing charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956.
The leader also has over 25 criminal cases registered against him since the early 2000s across the North-eastern state.
Marak, an elected member of the Garo Tribal Autonomous District Council, in a statement on Saturday attacked chief minister Conrad K Sangma for the raid at the farmhouse, denying any allegation about running a “brothel”.
“The CM is getting desperate as he knows he is losing his South Tura seat to the BJP. The raid at my farmhouse is a desperate attempt by him to malign my image and a political vendetta,” he claimed.
The BJP is a part of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, led by Sangma’s NPP.
The BJP has also defended Marak saying the move was part of a political vendetta by the NPP-led government in the state.
“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,” claimed BJP Meghalaya president Ernest Mawrie.
On Monday, CM Sangma said there was no politics involved in the case. “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 reporters while responding to BJP’s charges of “political vendetta”. “There is no politics involved, I assure you. The law will take its own course of action.”