Shillong, February 03: A new Meghalaya militant outfit Hynniewrtrep Liberation Front (HLF) backed by NSCN-IM, has been neutralised at the nascent stage, a senior police officer has said.
“We have netted five key members of the new group, including its commander-in-chief and chairman. I think we have picked up almost all of them,” SP (Shillong city) Claudia Lyngwa said Tuesday evening.
She said there was “hard evidence” that the new outfit had close links with the NSCN-IM.
HLF commander-in-chief Shembhalang Dkhar, chairman Roykupar Marbaniang and three others were caught in a series of operations last month, nipping the nascent outfit in the bud, the SP said.
According to police, NSCN-IM had floated the group primarily to extort money in the state.
“Void of any objective, the activists didn’t even know what they were up to. They were unarmed and were told by NSCN that they would be taken to Nagaland for training soon,” police officials who interrogated them said, adding that the leadership was caught before they could mobilise youths to join them.
After completion of the investigation, the state government would send a report to the Centre informing about the NSCN’s activities in the state, police said.
-PTI