Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the cadres use WhatsApp registered on Bangladeshi SIM cards to make extortion calls to businesspersons in Meghalaya. Representational image.
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An Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) tribunal has upheld the decision of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to declare the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya as an “unlawful association” for another five years.
The MHA informed the tribunal that 15-20 cadres of the HNLC, including its leaders Sainkupar Nongtraw (General Secretary) and Bobby Marwein, are currently based in Maulvi Baxar district of Bangladesh. It said the cadres use WhatsApp registered on Bangladeshi SIM cards to make extortion calls to businesspersons in Meghalaya.
The Home Ministry submitted that the HNLC was formed in 1995 to achieve “self-determination and liberation for the people of Ri Hynniewtrep (land of ‘Khasis’) from alleged authoritarian rule by the Indian government, aiming to protect the ‘Khasis’ and other tribes of Meghalaya from alleged exploitation and preserve indigenous culture.”
The MHA said the HNLC maintained operational and training links with insurgent groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (I) and continued violent activities, extortion, threats to government officials and recruitment targeting vulnerable youths with anti-India rhetoric. It was also a member of the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia, the MHA said.
The Ministry said the HNLC used social media platforms, including Facebook (Meta) and WhatsApp, as tools for radicalisation and recruitment of unsuspecting youth into its fold. “The organisation’s active use of such digital platforms for indoctrination and mobilisation is evidenced by the arrests of several youths across different districts of the State who have been found to be working as over ground workers for the HNLC,” the MHA said.
The tribunal was informed that WhatsApp was served notice under Section 91 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to furnish details about two Bangladesh phone numbers that were used to send threat calls and messages to people in February 2024. However, the social media intermediary was yet to respond to the notice.
Illegal activities
The MHA added that the HNLC was involved in illegal activities such as killings, abductions, robbery, arms smuggling, cattle smuggling and extortion. From November 16, 2019 to June 30, 2024 as many as 48 criminal cases were registered against the association or its cadres, which included nine incidents of planting and explosion of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
During the same period, 73 cadres were arrested and three others surrendered. Further, 14 arms, 2,741 ammunition, 23 detonators and one hand grenade were also recovered from its cadres.
Justice Soumitra Saikia, who presided over the tribunal, said in an order published this week that “the HNLC continues to engage in armed insurgency and unlawful activities with the intent to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”
The HNLC was initially declared as an unlawful association under the UA(P)A, 1967 in November 2000 and the declaration has been continuously extended since then. It was last banned in December 2024.
Published – May 22, 2025 11:07 pm IST