The Meghalaya police on Thursday recovered explosive materials from the farmhouse that the arrested State BJP vice-president, Bernard Marak, allegedly used as a brothel.
The seized items included 35 gelatine sticks, 100 detonators, four crossbows and 15 arrows.
The police had on July 22 recovered 400 bottles of liquor and 500 packets of unused condoms and contraceptive tablets from the farmhouse located at Edenbari on the outskirts of Tura, the headquarters of the West Garo Hills district. Five minors were also rescued and 73 men and women arrested from the farmhouse that day.
The district’s Superintendent of Police, Vivekananda Singh Rathore, said a team of the district Child Protection Unit and the police went to the farmhouse to collect the clothes and books of the rescued children.
Explosives hidden
“The team found a small door-like structure that was broken open to yield the explosives and weapons,” he said.
He said charges would be added under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, against Mr. Marak, who was brought to Tura on Thursday from Hapur in Uttar Pradesh.
He was produced before a local court that sent him to eight days’ police custody.
FIR under POCSO Act
The police also registered a fresh First Information Report (FIR) under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act after medical tests suggested one of the rescued children was sexually assaulted.
A former extremist, Mr. Marak is a member of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council ruled by the National People’s Party (NPP) headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma. Prior to his arrest, the BJP leader had been vocal against corruption in the council besides accusing Mr. Sangma and his parliamentarian sister Agatha Sangma of misappropriating funds through “ghost projects”.
The string of events is believed to have strained the ties between the NPP and BJP — allies in the Meghalaya government. While State BJP president Ernest Mawrie indicated the two parties were drifting apart, the Chief Minister said the action against Mr. Marak had nothing to do with politics and would not impact his party’s relationship with the BJP.
TMC questions timing of raid
The Meghalaya unit of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), however, questioned the timing of the raid on Mr. Marak’s farmhouse, especially with the 2023 Assembly elections a few months away.
“There have been complaints against the farmhouse since 2019. Why did the government take three years to act when many people in Tura were complaining about the activities there?” State TMC leader George B. Lyngdoh said.
