M’laya rebels abduct coal manager

A manager of a coal exporter Mrong enterprise to Bangladesh was abducted in Meghalaya by three armed men of a rebel outfit, police said Tuesday. No ransom call was received.

“Dipu Das was abducted by three heavily armed GNLA (Garo National Liberation Army) rebels late Monday night from Gasuapara area,” Davies R Marak, the district police chief of South Garo Hills, said.

Gasuapara in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills district is about 500 km from Shillong, the state capital. “We have launched a rescue operation in the area to trace Das,” Marak said.

The GNLA had earlier slapped extortion demands ranging from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.1 crore on petrol pump owners, coal dealers and businessmen in the coal-rich districts of the Garo Hills. The GNLA is fighting for a separate Garoland in western part of Meghalaya.