GUWAHATI: Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) released two Assam men after getting a ransom of Rs. 3 lakh from their families.
The victims identified as Monowar Hussain and his driver Alowar Hussain were kidnapped by militants on last Monday from Phulbari area of Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills district when they were on their way to Hatsingimari from Guwahati.
Along with the two men, the XYLO car was also taken away by the kidnappers.
Later, unidentified miscreants demanded Rs. 20 lakh from the kidnapped men’s families as ransom.
Though Meghalaya Police recovered the vehicle, police of both the states could not trace the kidnapped men.
Meanwhile, family members of the victims ensured their release after paying Rs. 3 lakh to the miscreants on Tuesday night. The men were released at a dense forest in Meghalaya.
After the dead of the banned outfit’s commander-in-chief Sohan D Shira in an encounter in 2018 and subsequent surrender of a large number of insurgents, the extortion activities along the Assam-Meghalaya border were on decline.
But recently a large number of GNLA have resumed such activities along the inter-state border areas. According to sources, around 3 hundred cadres are being trained at the camp where two men were held hostage. The outfit has reportedly garnered a large number of arms and ammunition.
