SHILLONG, May 8 — Former Meghalaya Forest minister Adolf-Lu-Hitler R Marak is absconding despite repeated summons issued against him for his alleged connections with the banned Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), an insurgent outfit operating in the Garo Hills district of the state. The startling revelation was made by Chief Minister D D Lapang here Tuesday evening following persistent queries by newsmen on alleged politician-militant nexus in the state and the government’s stand on the issue.
‘Nobody, whether he is a minister or officer will be spared if he is found to have links with the militants’, Lapang asserted. The former minister, belonging to NCP, had lost the recent Assembly elections. Former Chief Minister Dr F A Khonglam had alleged during the poll campaign that the government had evidence against four MLAs of having links with the extremists but declined to name them.
Adolf issued summons in a case where his official car was used by ANVC militants. It was also alleged that ultras were given shelter also at his official residence. The police nabbed the ANVC ultras using Adolf’s vehicle which was also seized. “We may issue an arrest warrant against the former minister if he continued to flout the summons” Lapang stated. Later members of the North East East Study Group (NESG) asserted that the nexus between politicians and militants was deep-rooted in the North Eastern States.
The group headed by S K Agnihotri was accompanied by two other members viz, Lt Gen (retired) S K Pillai and K Saigal, former IAS, during an interaction with newsmen at Shillong Press Club Tuesday. There exists evidence to show that some legislators in NE get elected to the state Assemblies with the assistance of the militants’, they said. The members stated, ‘there is a nexus between politicians and ultras in Nagaland, Arunchal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura and probably in Meghalaya. At time, such links existed in Mizoram as well.”