From Our Correspondent
TURA: Street justice was meted out on a group of militants who tried to extort money from villagers in the Assam side of the border adjoining Garo Hills as angry mobs lynched two of the suspects while another two were apprehended and handed over to Assam Police on Friday morning.
As many as seven suspected ANVC-B militants had descended on Do’rengtip village of Kachirapara in Agia area of Goalpara district, Assam, at around 8:15 AM. Brandishing pistols the militants caught hold of a villager near a cowshed and began demanding money from him.
Seeing the situation a mob of people descended on the area and accosted the militants who opened blank fire in the air to scare away the villagers. As the militants tried to escape two of them were caught by the public and bludgeoned to death.
They were identified as Nabang Marak and Watsi Marak.
The remaining cadres who fled through the paddy fields and village forests were chased by mobs of people. Two cadres, identified as Rupert Marak and Smart Marak, were caught from a nearby village and given a sound trashing before they were handed over to the police.
Villagers also seized a foreign made pistol with two live rounds and mobile phones from the militants which were handed over to the Assam Police at Agia.
This is not the first time ANVC-B militants have been caught and killed for extortion from villagers in Garo Hills and the Assam border region.
As many as five other cadres have been killed by mobs for similar extortion in the last couple of months.
Two suspected ANVC-B cadres were lynched by villagers on June 29 this year, when they made an attempt to extort Rs. 50,000 from the pastor of Niabari Baptist Church in Gitapara village, 6 kms from Bajengdoba town in North Garo Hills district.
The two accused, Pitus Marak (20) and Maylanton Sangma (20) were beaten to death by the angry villagers.
In another case of lynching of suspected militants who tried to extort money, angry villagers of Omarput village, also in North Garo Hills district, lynched three persons reportedly belonging to the ANVC-B when they tried to extort money from the people. The deceased had tried to threaten the villagers by brandishing two Chinese made pistols but an angry mob caught them and assaulted them leading to their death.
