Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council cadre surrenders before BSF

A REPORTER

SHILLONG: An 'AREA COMMAnder' in charge of East Jaintia Hills of the banned militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) on Thursday surrendered before senior BSF office led by Inderjit Singh Rana, IG BSF Meghalaya Frontier at Umkiang.

The surrendered militant identified as Junel Tongper had joined the HNLC in 2010 and later in 2015 was arrested by the police and upon receiving bail in 2020, further he rejoined the outfit and again surrendered on December 30.

Tongper was also welcomed back to the mainstream by his parents and local headmen, church leaders, BSF officers among others.

When asked about the reason for his surrender, he said the HNLC took advantage of unemployed youths including him and exploited us by making us execute "unlawful activities".

He added, "Another reason is that my parents are not in good health as they are at an old age, hence I have to look after them."

Asked if he can assure that in future he will not rejoin the outfit, Tongper said, "I don't know about that. The reason I rejoined the outfit in 2020 was because of the police."

Meanwhile, Inderjit Singh Rana, IG BSF Meghalaya Frontier said, "We are putting in efforts to help misguided youths in border areas to rejoin the mainstream."

He also assured to provide the youths with the facilities of skill development and vocational training and remunerative amount post surrender.

"We were in touch with Tongper for the last one year," he said. The BSF also handed over a remunerative amount of Rs. 2.5 lakh to surrendered HNLC member to kick start his new chapter of life in the mainstream.

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