Facts to know about co-founder of Meghalaya’s GNLA outfit- Champion Sangma

FACTS | November 16, 2018:

He is a former deputy superintendent of police turned militant. This ex-policeman is now keeping the police forces on their toes. He is the co-founder of the former militant outfit GNLA (Garo National Liberation Army) and the police are struggling to contain a series of violent acts unleashed by them. This former Meghalaya Police Service (MPS) officer supposedly quit the police to float the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) outfit in 2009. He was arrested by Meghalaya Police on July 12 in 2012 after he was pushed back from Bangladesh.

Here are 5 facts about Champion Sangma

# Champion, whose real name is Pakchara R Sangma, is a postgraduate in philosophy from the Northeastern Hill University(NEHU), Shillong. He was recruited to the Meghalaya Police Service as a DSP in 2004. But he remained on probation till 2009, until one day he disappeared. In early 2010, the police confirmed that the DSP, who had taken his service weapon, had set up an underground group.

# As per government records, during the probation period, his attendance was irregular, his behavior and conduct was not satisfactory and he failed to improve himself despite repeated warnings. Police records say that he was a habitual drinker.

# He hails from Songsak constituency in East Garo Hills district, but the police do not have detailed records about his family background. Champion's batch mates from the Northeastern Police Academy say he neither showed a militant streak nor carried the impression of a good policeman in the making. But, having trained in the elite academy, he was well-equipped with the latest methods of guerilla warfare and could handle sophisticated weapons.

#It was an embarrassment to the Meghalaya police when the police officer left the camp. Sangma is the first police officer, but the second policeman in the state joining a militant outfit. Peter Marak, a commando with the Special Operation Team in Meghalaya Police, formed Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF) after he unsuccessfully contested the State Assembly elections from Songsak constituency.

# Champion R Sangma, who quit the police to float the outfit in 2009, was arrested by security forces in Mymensingh in Bangladesh. In the early months of 2015, there was a sensational revelation that he had resigned from the outfit he once formed!