Shillong, April 11: Former Meghalaya forest minister and NCP member Adolph Hitler Marak today claimed that the two suspected ANVC activists, arrested from a state pool car, which belonged to him, had surrendered last year before erstwhile home minister Lotsing A. Sangma.
Last week, police had seized a car belonging to Hitler Marak and had arrested two suspected ANVC members, identified as Ashabel D. Shira and Farooq R. Marak along with a resident of Mizoram, Rongsangzuala, from Weiloi in Balat under East Khasi Hills district.
Hitler Marak, who was a minister in the F.A. Khonglam government, told The Telegraph that the two “surrendered ANVC members are my relatives”.
He said they were on their way to Shillong to hand over the vehicle to the government. “After I lost the elections, I realised that I could not hang on to my official car. I had directed the two boys to take the vehicle to Shillong after dropping me off at Guwahati,” he said.
The NCP leader said he, however, was not aware that the two had taken a detour to Balat to pick up Ronsangzuala, whom he identified as Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga’s “right hand man” involved in the initiative to bring the ANVC to the negotiation table.
Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang today said he would give police a free hand to probe the case and seek a “full report from the home department. No one is above the law,” he said.