TURA: A live hand grenade together with over two dozen ammunition for a pistol have been found in a forest in South Garo Hills region by police on Monday morning, following a tip off.
During a search of the forests outside of Dosogre village in Mindikgre region, 30 km from Baghmara, police unearthed a Chinese hand grenade and 25 rounds of 7.65 ammunition used for pistols.
The arms consignment had been kept hidden for over two years by a GNLA cadre called Bande Ch Marak who went by the alias names ‘Border’ and ‘Kora’ in the militant group. Bande was arrested by police from Dosogre village in the year 2017.
It is believed that the consignment was kept with the knowledge of rogue GNLA militant Nikrak M Sangma alias Kaltush who had been based inside Bangladesh for the past couple of years before his arrest last week.
The militant, who handled the shipment of arms, ammunition and uniforms from Bangladesh into GNLA camps inside Garo hills forests during the time of Sohan D Shira, was arrested last week after sneaking into the country dressed as a villager through the remote Rongara border region in South Garo Hills. He had reportedly been planning to revive the GNLA with the support of ULFA militants and Bangladeshi criminal gangs.
