Acting swiftly on credible information that a leader and members of an organisation called the Hynniewtrep National United Federation (HNUF) were extorting money from businesses owned by non-tribals in Ri-Bhoi, district police launched an investigation and arrested four suspects.
A special police team arrived at a roadside eatery operated by a non-local and found three individuals trying to extort money from the dhaba’s manager in the name of the HNUF. The three were identified as Simon Jyrwa, Alton Wahlang and Francis Wahlang. The incident occurred today at around 2:10pm at the restaurant near Nongpoh.
During interrogation, the suspects reportedly confessed that they had been instructed to carry out the extortion by Rangsngur Warjri, who identified himself as the HNUF president as well as that of another organisation, the Meghalaya People Federation (MPF). Following the confession, the police acted promptly and arrested Warjri from Umsning in connection with the extortion case.
The police have taken up the case suo moto as no formal complaint was received by the dhaba owner and none is expected as he fears doing so would harm his business.