TURA: Garo militants from the banned GNLA outfit made a daring attempt to engage police commandos in a fire fight after one of their cadres was shot dead in an earlier encounter on Thursday morning at remote Chokpot region of South Garo Hills district.
Police commandos from the SWAT unit engaged in counter-insurgency operations came across a group of GNLA militants descending to Daji Badimagre-Boldakgre village for an early morning meal just before 5:30 am.
The remote village is located in a densely forested area far from any motor able road and approximately 8 kms away from Chokpot town.
The early morning face off between the two sides led to a gun battle that stretched for close to half an hour during which one militant was shot dead. From the deceased police recovered an AK-47 rifle with several rounds of ammunition and a knapsack containing camouflage uniforms.
Given that a spot inquest is mandatory for any loss of life as per human rights norms, a magistrate was deputed from district headquarters Baghmara.
The Magistrate, Pilot R Marak, had barely arrived at the encounter site to conduct the inquest in the early afternoon when suddenly automatic gunfire began to take place forcing everyone to scurry for cover.
The GNLA militants that had escaped the early morning raid had returned to seek vengeance and began to fire indiscriminately from a distance in the forests.
The police teams on the spot returned fire and forced the ultras to beat a retreat after several minutes of an engagement.
The daring return by the militants to attack the security forces at the encounter site that had already been cordoned off by police commandos led police to suspect the presence of a hideout of the ultras somewhere in the area.
After an extensive search police teams found a large camp of the GNLA in the deep jungles of Daji Badimagre. The militant hideout reportedly housed as many as forty cadres of the GNLA.
By the time police teams had located the camp the militants had already cleared it of all the weapons and important documents except for utensils and basic household items that were abandoned.
