By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The dreaded militant outfit Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) is now targeting minor children and teenagers to carry out their activities in the State.
Informing this here on Tuesday, Director General of Police (DGP) N Ramachandran told The Shillong Times that the outfit is now trying to lure teenagers by promising them money.
“This is a dangerous trend,” he said.
The matter came to light recently when East Garo Hills police arrested a GNLA recruiting agent.
According to Ramachandran, the parents have been cautioned to take care of their children “so that they don’t fall into the trap of the outfit”.
The outfit is trying to recruit women, he said.
The security forces arrested two insurgents including a woman GNLA cadre in West Garo Hills on Monday.
The State Police chief also stated that the intelligence inputs have indicated that some women are engaged by the Garo outfit to collect money for the outfit.
Another police official, however, said they (police) don’t have any concrete evidence about the presence of women cadres in the outfit, “but there could be some sympathizers.”
A woman cadre Balsri M Marak was apprehended in a joint operation between the BSF and the police on Sunday evening from Barengpara village under Dalu police station and it is learnt that she had gone to Bangladesh to procure arms for the outfit.Ramachandran said the GNLA at present has less than one hundred cadres.