TURA, June 24 – The banned A’chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), which is suspected to be behind the kidnapping of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Balpakram National Park, D Sathiyan, from Baghmara town on June 18, has denied any hand in the abduction. Informing this, the publicity secretary of the ANVC, Arist Sengsrang Sangma, said that the outfit had no connection with the incident and came to know of the abduction from newspaper reports. “We have no idea about the incident but we cannot rule out the involvement of other groups,” said Arist Sengsrang. He also criticised the Meghalaya Government for “unnecessarily” dragging the name of the ANVC into the abduction of the DFO adding, “each time an abduction takes place does not mean that we are involved. After all, it is not the ANVC alone that operates in the Garo Hills.”
Substantiating further, the publicity secretary said that the ANVC ceased all “operational” activities within the Garo Hills from the day notification for elections to the Indian Parliament took place in February. “Order was given out from our leaders to cease all form of activity in the run-up to the elections and it has continued till date,” he said. Sengsrang cited the ongoing peace parlays between the ANVC and the Central Government as the main reason for the halt to all activities. “We wanted the Central Government to realise the importance the ANVC has placed on the peace talks with them,” concluded the publicity secretary.
With the ANVC virtually ruling out its involvement, several theories are now doing the rounds in connection with the abduction. The chances of the NDFB, ULFA, and the lesser known UANF group being involved have also not been ruled out. Suspicion is also there that petty criminals may have been involved in the kidnapping of the DFO.