A 15-year-old boy was among three members of a gang that were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the kidnapping of two labourers recently.
North Garo Hills police made two of the arrests yesterday and the third today afternoon. According to reports, two labourers working on a road project in Chidaret village were abducted in the early hours of Thursday. Chidaret is around 10 kilometres from the district headquarters of Resubelpara.
The gang were armed with knives, daggers and four locally-made guns. They demanded Rs 5 lakh from the family and the project manager for the release of their victims.
Police were drafted in to find the missing labourers and were able to learn that they were being held in a cave deep inside a remote forest near Rongrong.
Two gang members were nabbed yesterday but one managed to escape into the hilly terrain.
However, police were able to learn of his identity and tracked him down to the home of a relative in Manda Wari where he was arrested today.
The minor cannot be named for legal reasons but the other two were identified as Rupen R Marak aka Togan (36) from Nengsa Apal and Danseng G Momin (20) from Raja Apal. Both places are in the Bajengdoba area.
All three of the suspects had been arrested in January last year on suspicion of another kidnapping; on that occasion it was of an Assam-based trader, who was abducted from the Dingok market near Bajengdoba.
The two adults had recently acquired bail, while the teenager had also only recently been released from the observation home he had been sent to.
“All three had come together once again and began their stint at committing crimes immediately upon release. They are currently in custody and a case has been drawn up accordingly,” confirmed Superintendent of Police, Abraham T Sangma.