Tura, June 16: Meghalaya legislator Clifford R. Marak has drawn flak from Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) for his comment that the outfit was killing wild animals. The outfit today expressed their concern for animals and has asked wildlife department to pursue cases of animals killed in different police operations.
Chokpot legislator Clifford R. Marak had made the comment in the floor of the assembly on June 12. The commander-in-chief of GNLA, Sohan D. Shira in a statement issued here today said, “The allegation that GNLA is killing wild animals is baseless. His accusation is unwanted and false”.
Appreciating the concern of the legislator for wildlife, Shira said, “We highly appreciate your concern for wildlife of Garo hills, but we cannot accept your speculative statement”.
The outfit also lambasted police for rampant killing of wild animals during their operation against the militants.
The statement pointed out that an elephant was killed in last week’s encounter at Adugre, near Williamnagar. They have also mailed pictures of mortals, which failed to explode.
The outfit is of the view that by bombarding the militant hideout in the jungle, the police are indirectly killing animals. “There are countless dead animals in the jungle rotting everywhere. They were killed in police firing”, said the statement. The outfit has also questioned as to why the forest and wildlife department failed to take up the matter as many animals were killed during different operations.(SP News)
