Police to step up ops against rebels: DGP
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Security forces on Tuesday launched search operations to nab Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels who gunned down five people, including four police personnel, in an ambush on Monday evening.
A group of 10 heavily armed militants hiding on a hilltop attacked a highway patrol police team at Dobu area of East Garo Hills district, killing the policemen and a civilian and injuring two police personnel.
Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Meghalaya’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos have been pressed into service to track down the rebels who are suspected to be holed up in and around the area, police sources said.
Though no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the state’s Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Rajiv Mehta said: “The GNLA is behind this cowardly attack.”
Mehta, who reviewed the overall law and order situation in the Garo Hills after the incident, added: “We have got vital leads and the hunt is on to arrest them.”
The State police, meanwhile, is contemplating to launch massive anti-insurgency operations against the GNLA.
Indicating this, the State DGP N Ramachandran on Tuesday said the police would step up the operations against the militants operating in Garo Hills.
“We have adequate force to tackle the militants,” he said.
The DGP also refuted reports that only junior cops such as havildars and constables were deployed to counter the militants.
It may be mentioned that most of the cops who died fighting against the insurgents in the state are either havildars or low ranked officers. (with inputs from agencies)
