Guwahati: Police seized explosives and conventional weapons from Bernard N. Marak’s farmhouse after the Meghalaya BJP vice president was taken into custody in the West Garo Hills area on suspicion of operating a “brothel.”
The BJP leader was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur on July 26. During the raid at Marak’s farmhouse, Meghalaya police recovered 35 gelatin sticks and 100 detonators, four crossbows and 15 arrows, said West Garo Hills district police chief Vivekanand Singh while quoted by PTI.
Marak was notably a former insurgent leader.
The BJP leader went when police raided his farmhouse on 22 July night. The police arrested 73 people from there and rescued six minors.
The explosives were found when a Child Protection Unit and the police went to Marak’s farmhouse to pick up the clothing and books left behind by the evacuated children, according to the PTI report.
Marak was detained in accordance with both the POCSO Act and the Explosive Substances Act.
He was arrested under the POCSO when one of the six juveniles who had been rescued disclosed that he had been sexually molested during a medical check.
Marak was apprehended by members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Hapur Police near a toll booth at the Ghaziabad border.
The BJP is coalition partner in state’s ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), led by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP).
Marak has asserted his innocence and said that Meghalaya’s chief minister Sangma is after him and is concerned for his safety. Fascinatingly, the state BJP
According to rumours, the saffron party may run Marak against Sangma in the upcoming Meghalaya Assembly elections.
Conrad K. Sangma denied giving the BJP vice-president a command to be imprisoned.