Shillong: Meghalaya police on Thursday said the apprehended “Chairman” of the newly formed terror outfit, the National Liberation Council of Nongkyndong (NLCN), has turned out to be a school-going boy.
The juvenile was apprehended during Wednesday’s raid by Meghalaya police after giving his class 10 examinations at his school. Police have arrested seven members, including a woman who was the “recruiter” and “record keeper” of the outfit.
Police arrested three more suspects during overnight raids in several locations in connection with the formation of the new terror outfit, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 11, including the juvenile.
“An “Area Commander” of East Khasi Hills was nabbed from Ïewduh, the biggest marketplace here in Meghalaya, on Thursday, while two others were arrested late Wednesday night from West Jaintia Hills district,” police sai
During the raids, police have seized key incriminating documents and several mobile gadgets from their possession.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that the juvenile is the “Chairman” of the terror-outfit. We have started interrogating all the arrested suspects to find out the motive behind the formation of NLCN,” a police official said on condition of anonymity.
Incidentally, the minor was probably in touch with some of the dreaded militant outfits in the region. He has been sent to the Juvenile Home.
There have been reports of child soldiers being used by militants in Meghalaya’s history of militancy. However, this is the first incident that a “child soldier in the making” was also one of the masterminds in forming a terror outfit.
What concerns the police is that most of the cadres of the outfit were from remote areas in Jaintia Hills, West Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi and some from East Khasi Hills.
“It is a serious matter of concern for us (police) after we found out that most of the members are from the rural areas of the state and especially after we had intelligence inputs that some of the members made plans to go to Nagaland this evening (Thursday) for arms training by some militant groups,” the police official said.
Moreover, he said that the arrested members had also made elaborate plans to procure arms and ammunition from different parts of the region and to set up a training camp close to the India-Bangladesh border.
“Although, we have arrested most of them. We are still looking out for more including their ring leader and their financiers and to establish their linkages with other militant groups,” the official said.
During Wednesday’s raid, the “Commander-in-Chief, General Secretary, Area Commanders, Recruiter and Record Keeper” were all nabbed.
Meanwhile, a local court here on Thursday granted eight day police custody to all arrested members of the terror outfit.
