Rebels in Assam killings identified

Meghalaya Police have shared with their Assam counterparts the names of three suspects allegedly involved in the bloodbath in Assam's Goalpara district, a police official said Thursday.

"We have identified at least three United A'chik Liberation Army (UALA) rebels who were allegedly behind the killings of seven people in Goalpara district," Meghalaya Police chief Peter James Pyngrope Hanaman told IANS.

Seven people were killed and nine injured when suspected UALA rebels fired indiscriminately at some people in Gendabari village in Goalpara district.

The trio was identified as UALA advisor Arbith G. Momin, who is also a former political leader of the Garo National Council (GNC) Assam zone, Rakman Momin alias Siksak, and Nishan M. Sangma, he said.

The GNC, a regional political party, has one legislator in the 60-member Meghalaya state assembly, while it has no representative in the Assam assembly.

The Meghalaya Police chief said the names of the three rebels were based on intelligence inputs.

Initially, Assam Police blamed the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) for the carnage.

But Meghalaya Police suspected the involvement of the UALA since more of its rebels are tribal Garos living in Goalpara.

UALA is a splinter group of the breakaway faction of the Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC-B) headed by Singbirth N. Marak alias Norok alias Tengton.

Marak was also one of the prime accused in the killings of two Meghalaya jail officials at Williamnagar in East Garo Hills.

On Wednesday, Assam Police along with their Meghalaya counterparts, besides central forces and the army, decided to launch a joint crackdown to flush out UALA and Garo National Liberation Army militants and ensure communal harmony on the inter-state border.

They also decided to set up a joint control room at Goalpara to coordinate operations and share intelligence information.

There has been tension in the area since last month, particularly due to proposed elections to the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC). Other communities, including the Garos, living in these areas have been opposing the polls, asking that the government first exclude non-Rabha dominated villages from the RHAC.