From Our Correspondent
TURA: Two members belonging to a group that deserted the GNLA to form their own armed outfit have been arrested with a weapon and ammunition in Rewak region of South Garo Hills by police on Friday.
The two militants, identified as Betning Sangma and Abath Sangma, had been holed up in Rongchekgre locality of Rewak near Siju when security forces raided the place and nabbed the duo.
A 7.65 calibre automatic pistol including nine live rounds and as many as 60 rounds of AK ammo were seized from their possession. The arrested militants told police interrogators that the AK rifle taken from the GNLA was in the possession of two other cadres somewhere in the forests of Chokpot region.
The arrested cadres were part of a nine-member gang who hoodwinked the GNLA area commander of Chokpot, Pangkam, and fled with several lakhs of extorted money and as many as three AK rifles sometime between February-March, this year.
The militants had raised a false alarm of approaching police teams on their hideout just as the area commander was sitting down for his meal. He fled into the forest leaving behind the weapons and the money which was lifted by the rest of the group that walked off in the opposite direction.
Since then security forces have gradually picked off the gang members with half a dozen getting arrested at different intervals in East and West Garo Hills districts.
The deserters’ group was behind a series of extortion and abduction cases along the Chokpot-Kherapara-Dalu region for the last couple of months. The outfit had kidnapped a village nokma from Dalu region and released him only after receiving a ransom of five lakh rupees, police revealed.
The group was also known for extorting from petty traders even fleecing for a few thousand rupees.
ANVC (B) cadres held
SP West Garo Hills MK Singh informed that on Thursday night , two persons, Nokman N Marak (19) and Markos Marak (20) calling themselves as ANVC(B) cadres, were caught with a country made 9mm pistol in Kherapara, Dalu.