A man who was arrested under UAPA for allegedly writing on Facebook that Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council should kill Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, was granted bail by the Meghalaya High Court (HNLC).
The HNLC is an insurgent organisation that operates in the Khasi and Jayantia hills region of Meghalaya. It allegedly seeks to liberate Meghalaya from the Garo tribe’s “domination” and develop it as a province dedicated exclusively to the Khasi tribe. Numerous violent occurrences that have recently occurred in the state were blamed on the gang.
The accused testified that he was drunk and alone at home when he began checking his Facebook account, but he was unable to recall if he had written anything. This was taken into consideration by Justice W. Diengdoh’s bench.
The Court further observed that the accused was sent to the hospital for a medical examination on the day of his arrest, when it was discovered that he had consumed alcohol. The Court did, however, add that the issue of whether the disputed post was created while under the influence of alcohol would be decided at the time of the trial.