SHILLONG: The banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has denied sending extortion letters to civilians and businessmen from Khasi & Jaintia Hills regions of Meghalaya.
“HNLC would like to state that it is the handiwork of miscreants and that the under signed are not in any way connected to the HNLC,” the outfit’s general secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said.
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He said that the HNLC would not get involved in extortion activities “as it corrupts the sole nature of the ongoing peace talks”.
“As the peace talks are progressing forward it could also be a step towards derailing the entire process by people having vested interests,” Nongtraw added.
“No agreement has been signed so far between the government of India, government of Meghalaya and the HNLC and neither sides have created any attempt to damage it,” Nongtraw said.
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“Everything has been adhered to as a mark of respect from the HNLC to the GOI and GOM not to indulge into any kind of illegal activities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya police has launched an investigation following the emergence of an HNLC extortion demand notice on social media.
The police are exploring all angles to determine whether the demand notes are genuinely linked to the HNLC or if someone is exploiting the outfit’s name for their own gain.
It has been reported that approximately 100 demand notices have been allegedly served in the name of the outfit to individuals residing across Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
It may be mentioned that the HNLC is already in a peace talks process and several rounds of discussions have already taken place.