GUWAHATI: The Itanagar Bench OF Gauhati High Court has directed former Arunachal Pradesh MLA, Thangwang Wangham, to “surrender/appear” before the judicial magistrate of Longding for regular bail.

A non-bailable arrest warrant against him was issued by the judicial magistrate as his name got entangled in a case of abduction of two BJP workers in April.

“…It appears that a serious crime has been committed with the motive of extortion and which could have led to further commission of other offenses if it had not been intervened at the right time.

It also appears that at least, at this stage; all fingers are pointed towards the accused-applicant, herein. Therefore, this court is of the view that the accused applicant should immediately surrender before the Judicial Magistrate first class, Longding…and apply for regular bail on the day of his appearance itself,” the court-ordered.

The court directed the police not to arrest the former MLA till such time. It directed him not to indulge in any activity that could influence the probe or tamper with evidence.

The BJP’s Longding district unit demanded the case be handed over to a Special Investigation Team or the National Investigation Agency.

Allegedly, militants belonging to the National Socialist Council of Nagalim or NSCN-IM had abducted the duo and demanded Rs 4 crore. They were released two days later.

Earlier, the police had arrested seven people in connection to the incident. Some of them told their interrogators that the abduction was carried out at the direction of Wrangham. He was not available for comments.

The 50-year-old was elected from Longding-Pumao seat in the 2014 Arunachal election which he had contested on the ticket of People’s Party of Arunachal. He contested the 2019 election as a candidate for the National People’s Party but lost.