TURA: A hardware store owner was waylaid by a group of militants who opened fire and injured him after he fought them off during a kidnap bid in remote Purakhasia border region of West Garo Hills district on Tuesday evening.
The 50-year-old shop owner, Subemol Modok, a resident of Puran Bazar in Purakhasia, had closed his shop for the night and was proceeding home when a group of young men in a car waylaid him to an isolated spot.
The men tried to drag him into the car but the trader managed to break free. As he was fleeing one of the armed men opened fire hitting him twice on his upper leg.
Te militants abandoned him and fled with the vehicle even as villagers from the surrounding areas rushed to the spot on hearing the gunshots.
The trader, who was taken to Tura for medical treatment and later to neighbouring Assam, is reportedly out of danger. Police sources reveal that the Garo outfit A’chik National Liberation Army (ANLA) is a prime suspect as it had recently served demand notes on traders and businessmen in the area.