The Hindustan Times quoted a Meghalaya top police officer as saying, "We are confirmed by the central intelligence agencies that Champion has been tossed in the slammer from Mymensingh district (Bangladesh) by Rab commandos."
The rebel leader would be handed over to India soon, said the officer, asking not to be named.
Rapid Action Battalion
(Rab), however, denied the arrest."We did not make the arrest of Indian separatist named Champion R Sangma from Mymensingh," Rab intelligence wing chief Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan told The Daily Star yesterday.
New Delhi does not have any official confirmation of the detention too, the newspaper said quoting IANS.
"We are yet to get any official confirmation," Shambhu Singh, joint secretary (Northeast) in the union home ministry, said.
Champion, a former deputy superintendent of police, deserted the Meghalaya police and floated the GNLA due to alleged harassment by his seniors.
The outfit which has also forged an alliance with alleged Bangladesh-based rebel group A'chik Special Dragon Party has unleashed a reign of terror in the three impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the western part of Meghalaya, the newspaper added.