Shillong, May 27: A legal notice was slapped on a prominent English daily of Meghalaya by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for printing a news item quoting a district council member who alleged he was abducted for not supporting the party in the last assembly elections. NCP MLA and secretary of its legislature party Edmond K Sangma told reporters here today “we have consulted legal experts and as a first step served the notice to the Shillong Times for printing the news in its May 22 edition.”
Interviewing the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council member Mozidur Rehman over phone, the daily had said that he was kidnapped by militants for not supporting the NCP in the assembly elections.
Sangma today said NCP could not straightway blame Rehman, a member of Garo Nationalist Council (GNC), since he was neither heard nor seen making the statement “personally”, it was only through the daily that the politician made his remark public.
Denying the allegation, the NCP leader said there was no effort to persuade Rehman to work for the party “because we are 100 per cent aware that he belongs to GNC - a party only representing Garo community. We are also aware that he is closely associated with the Congress.”
This was done to tarnish the image of the NCP, he alleged.
Bureau Report