TURA, Aug 23: Members of the Meghalaya Chamber of Commerce organization currently operated by arrested BJP MDC Bernard Marak’s men have reportedly been threatening non-tribal businessmen with non-issuance of TNT licence from the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council unless they first obtain a certificate from their leader for a tidy sum of money.

“The office bearers of the Meghalaya Chamber of Commerce which is run on the directions of Bernard Marak have been threatening the non tribal-businessmen of the area and demanding that they must obtain a ‘no objection certificate’ from Bernard N Marak alias Rimpu who is a member of the GHADC without which their ‘Trading by Non-Tribal (TNT) Licence’ cannot be renewed. Huge sums of money is extorted from these businessmen for issue of this certificate which was completely illegal,” pointed out the police chief.

It may be mentioned that it is not the local MDC but the Executive Member of the GHADC EC who in tandem with the department of taxes in the council issues the TNT licences to anyone willing to trade in Garo Hills.

However, this illegal practice of forcing traders to first seek a clearance from the local area MDC for a fee before obtaining the TNT licence from council authorities has been going on for quite some time now. There were allegations against previous sitting MDCs, such as John Leslee K Sangma and Rupert M Sangma, of allegedly encouraging such a practice.