Meghalaya cop accused of raping minor sisters still on the run

A Meghalaya Police officer, accused of raping two minor girls in the assembly constituency of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, is still on the run despite efforts are on to nab him, police said Thursday.

Nurul Islam, who was in charge of the Ampati police station, was arrested June 1 on charges of raping two sisters. However, on the next morning, Islam escaped from police custody from Tura, the district headquarters town of West Garo Hills.

"Our (police) team has gone to two and three places in Assam where we suspected Islam is hiding, but we have not been able to trace him," Ramachandran Muthu, the district police chief of South West Garo Hills, told IANS.

"Islam is very much in the region. His family members are not cooperating with us and that's why we have not been able to trace him," the police official said.

While a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against Islam, Muthu said a petition has been filed in the court to declare the suspended officer as a proclaimed offender.

Moreover, he also informed that a look out notice against Islam has been issued to all district superintendents of police across the country while his bank accounts have been frozen.

The opposition National People's Party has even dragged chief minister's mother into the case, alleging that the government is dilly-dallying the arrest of the police officer as he is a "relative of Mukul Sangma's mother Roshanara Begum".

Ampati, the assembly constituency of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, is about 375 km from the state capital.

Islam had allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl inside the Ampati police station March 13. Later on March 31, he raped her sister, 17, at gun point, in their house. The officer had threatened to kill both the girls if they dared inform anyone.