SHILLONG, May 8 – A new terrorist outfit by the name and style of the ‘Pnar Liberation Army’ (PLA) has emerged in the trouble-torn state of Meghalaya, police sources have indicated. The recent killing of an unidentified militant in Tibong village, near Damcherra in Cachar Hills district, has indicated the birth of the new outfit named after the Pnar (Jaintia) tribal Community, Director General of Meghalaya Police L Sailo told reporters. Tthe formation of the organisation could be due to the ongoing communal unrest in Cachar Hills district, in which people belonging to the Khasi-Pnar community were affected, he added.
The ultra was shot dead by the Army during an encounter with a group of suspected PLA militants on Monday last, sources said adding a .303 rifle, a few rounds of revolver ammunition and some cash were recovered from his possession. However, the DGP said the formation of the PLA had nothing to do with the recent Sahsniang incident where the suspected Karbi outfit United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) unleashed terror on thousands of Pnars forcing them to flee to the controversial Block I area.
The new group has no links with the banned Khasi outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), the DGP said adding the PLA’s intention was only to extort money from the area. It may be mentioned that the ongoing conflict between the Kuki and the Karbi militants in parts of Karbi Anglong and Cachar Hills districts had affected hundreds of Khasi-Pnar families residing there and that many of them had fled to different places including Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.
Similarly, in Garo Hills the trend of easy money had resulted in formation of a new militant outfit called United A’chik Liberation Front (UALF). There were reports that the UALF was extorting money from the local businessmen there. The insurgency-ravaged Garo Hills of Meghalaya is already a haven for militants of North-East-based militant organisations of various hues, besides the outlawed Garo outfit A’chik National Volunteers’ Council (ANVC).
Observers feel that the growing ethnic clashes among tribal communities residing in the fringe areas of the north-eastern states could result in the formation of more such extremist outfits, if the concerned authorities did not take up measures to address the situation on an urgent. However, in addition to the financial constraints of the Exporters Association, they were also not authorised to repair or maintain the border road as it belonged to the State Public Works Department (PWD). The Sub-divisional officer of PWD (Roads), Nonghyllam, also wrote to the BSF that the road belonged to the State of Meghaaya and is maintained by the PWD.
Nevertheless, the BSF officials ‘forcefully’ stopped the plying of the coal-laden vehicles, allegedly without any official notification or intimation neither to the exporters not to the officials of the Customs Department posted at Borsora. The letter to the deputy prime minister pointed out the fact that while the Centre was all out to boost export from the north-eastern states by even promoting Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the ‘tyrannical act’ of the frontier force, should be dealt with an ‘iron fist’.