GH cops stumble upon new outfit’s formation
TURA: South Garo Hills police have uncovered a close nexus between the ANVC-B outfit and the GNLA faction (GNLA-F) that are preparing to float a new organization called the United Peoples’ Revolutionary Alliance (UPRA).
Police uncovered the close links between the GNLA-F led by Reding T Sangma and the ANVC-B after a camp of the latter was busted near Mindikgre early Friday morning in which the documents and seals of the new organization was recovered.
The police had visited Mindikgre, 15 kms from district headquarters Baghmara, on Thursday after receiving reports about posters being put up by a group of militants in the area.
A group of unidentified militants had put up posters at the main village market area with names and identities of some of their colleagues who had deserted the outfit. The militants even mentioned that the public should immediately inform the police, and not them, if any of the deserters were seen in the area.
Police teams visited Mindikgre to ascertain the facts and began a search operation in the region. When the police teams reached Darit Asim village, a few kms from Mindikgre at around 6 am of Friday, and had begun a house search they were fired upon by a group of militants from a small hillock overlooking the village.
In the retaliatory fire the militants fled leaving behind their camp belongings.
When police reached the hillock they found it to consist of two camps which were well fortified with logs of timber put up to shield enemy fire from outside. The camp had housed seven militants before the raid took place.
From the camp police recovered one shot gun, a revolver, four rounds of 7.62 ammo, two rounds of 7.65 ammo, blank ANVC-B letter pads with the signature of the outfit’s finance secretary Sengdura and also demand notes made out in the name of the rival United A’chik Liberation Army (UALA) headed by Norrok X Momin.
What has alarmed the security forces was the discovery of a receipt book made out in the name of the United Peoples’ Revolutionary Alliance (UPRA) with a seal of the chairman.
It is not known who the chairman or cadres of the new organization are but police have pointed a finger at Reding and his GNLA faction that was operating in the same area.
“Reding was running a camp not far from the site of the encounter but he fled before we arrived on the scene. In fact his wife hails from the same place,” revealed district police chief Davis Nestell R Marak while speaking to The Shillong Times over phone from Baghmara.
Reding is believed to have as many as fifty hardcore members of the GNLA under his command and is extensively recruiting fresh members. He is said to have fallen out with GNLC commander-in-chief sohan D Shira over financial differences after Sohan removed him from the finance secretary’s post and placed him in charge of training of new cadres in the general camp.