Social networking site lands GNLA chief behind bars

Think twice before you use the social networking sites.

His Facebook mania has landed Champion R Sangma, chairman of Meghalaya-based extremist group Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), in jail in Bangladesh. The GNLA is demanding self-rule for tribal Garos in western Meghalaya.

Sangma, who once served as deputy superintendent of police, was arrested in Bangladesh on November 24 and sent to Mymensingh Central Jail to undergo a term. “He was addicted to chatting on the Facebook, uploading his status, writing on the walls of friends and acquaintances and posting photos of him and his cadres regularly,” an official of an intelligence agency in Meghalaya said. “He would be on Facebook all the time, thus making it easy for us to get his trail. It was only a matter of time before his URL led to his hideout in Bangladesh. Subsequently, Bangladesh officials were tipped off,” a police officer in Shillong said.

When zeroed in on, he did neither resist nor try to conceal his identity as the chief of GNLA.

Apparently, he was homesick and missed his near and dear ones. A sense of loneliness perhaps made him turn to Facebook regularly, the police officer added.