Occupants given 4 mins to abandon MTC vehicle
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: A Shillong bound Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) bus was torched by suspected armed GNLA cadres in North Garo Hills on Wednesday morning. The ultras gave just four minutes for the passengers, mostly students, to come out of the vehicle.
The militants fired in the air to force the occupants out of the bus. Mark sheets, books, and other valuable documents of the students were destroyed in the fire as many of them could not carry the bags when they came out hurriedly.
Police recovered a note of GNLA, written both in English and Garo, which was earlier handed over to the driver. The note, written in the letter pad of GNLA, said that the outfit resorted to violence since the Government was indifferent to its various demands.
It was at around 7.40 am on Wednesday that five to six suspected GNLA militants stopped the MTC bus (ML03 0197) coming from Tura at Dingrepa, 9 kms from Bajengdoba, North Garo Hills.
The bus which starts from Tura at 6.30 am usually arrives in Shillong at around 6 pm.
Empty cases of ammunition of weapons were recovered from the site after the militants fired in the air.
The GNLA has stepped up violence resorting to extortion and kidnapping in parts of Garo Hills.
The militant outfit is on an extortion spree in Garo Hills even targeting the Government servants including BDOs and doctors.
Attack triggers escort rethink
The attack on the Government run MTC bus has prompted the authorities to rethink the escort provided to the buses.
At present, only the buses running at night are provided with escort by the security forces in Garo Hills. But the incident on Wednesday morning woke up the authorities to a new threat. The North Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, W. Khyllep said that there is a need to have a relook at the escort to be provided to the buses as the attack was made during the day.
“I will have to discuss the matter with police officials before coming to any decision”, he said.
The West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Pravin Bakshi also admitted the new need in view of the attack, but added that with the limited strength of the police personnel, providing security round the clock, especially on the highways can be a difficult task.
According to Bakshi, since the issue is an inter-district matter, it has to be taken up by both the districts.
The Shillong bound buses which start from Tura, passes through certain vulnerable stretches of North Garo Hills to reach Assam before arriving in Shillong.