BJP's Meghalaya leader Bernard N Marak said there is a political conspiracy against him
The BJP's Meghalaya leader Bernard N Marak -- under investigation for alleged immoral trafficking -- has claimed that he is meeting party leaders to apprise them about the "political conspiracy" against him. The vice-president of the state BJP unit, he also uploaded a photo of the meeting and a video. The police say they are yet to zero in on him and the last information was that he was in Guwahati, Assam.
Five children, locked up at a resort in Tura owned by Mr Marak, were rescued on Saturday, the police said. Claiming that a "brothel" was being operated from the place, they said the raid also led to the detention of 47 young men and 26 women -- many of them found unclothed and drunk.
The police recovered a huge amount of liquor, around 500 packets of contraceptives, cellphones and incriminating documents, said state police chief LR Bishnoi.
Mr Marak earlier denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he was being framed by the police at the behest of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.
In the video posted today, he reiterated the claim. "All these are cooked-up charges. I did not run a brothel or a prostitution racket... I am not on the run," he said. He said he had to leave Shillong since "the Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) tried to raid me and there is a conspiracy to gun me down".
The motive, he claimed, was that he had "become a threat to the Chief Minister in his own constituency after I won the district council election in that area".
"The BJP is growing in the hill areas and in the Christian-dominated areas... Our raising of corruption issues has helped us to grow and this has become a threat to our coalition partner NPP and so I am a personal threat to the Chief Minister," he added.
A former member of a now-disbanded insurgent group - A.chik Nationalist Voluntary Council (B) - Mr Marak has lately made headlines with his sharp criticism of Chief Minster Conrad Sangma. The BJP is a junior partner to Conrad Sangma's NPP in the multi-party coalition government.
The raid followed a complaint by a woman that her minor daughter has been abducted. The girl, who was recovered, told a magistrate that she was taken to the building and raped multiple times.
The BJP has condemned the raids on its Mr Marak's resort, saying he has been "a victim of political vendetta". "The people arrested from the resort by the police on 22 July were guests who had paid for their stay... The guests are from respectable families and branding the resort a "brothel' is highly objectionable and unacceptable. Young underprivileged children have also been shown in poor light," read a statement from the party.
Additionally, the statement claimed that amongst the children who were taken by the police, five are minors who are supported by Mr Marak and studying in Edenbari School and Auxilium Convent School in Tura.
"It is also very clear that it is a political vendetta as Shri Bernard Marak's mother's house was also raided without any warrant. This is seen as pure harassment ... Bernard Marak is fearful for his life. I request the government withdraw all charges against him which are politically motivated and malign the party image," the statement said.
Over last four years, there have been several instances of BJP leaders questioning Mr. Sangma and the NPP on several issues. The BJP's central leadership maintains that NPP is a key ally in northeast. The assembly elections in Meghalaya due early next year.