TURA: Two CRPF jawans were injured and had to be airlifted for medical treatment after their advance search team were fired upon by GNLA militants perched atop a hillock in remote Bolsal Ading of North Garo Hills district on Thursday morning.
The encounter between the GNLA militants and the joint group of SWAT commandos and CRPF personnel took place at around 4am.
Acting on specific information about the presence of GNLA militants led by area commander Pilliport D Shira in the Bolsal Ading area near Rongkaminchi, 10 kms from district headquarters Resubelpara, North Garo Hills police with support from CRPF personnel launched a combing operation on Wednesday night.
An advance team of the CRPF that was scouting the area were fired upon by GNLA from a hill top in Bolsal Ading leading to two jawans sustaining injuries. Advancing SWAT teams retaliated leading to a very heavy exchange of fire.
“There were as many as fifteen armed GNLA cadres with ) Pilliport D Shira but they escaped taking advantage of the hilly terrain and thick jungles,” informed district police chief J F K Marak.
The two jawans from the A company of 120 CRPF Battalion, constable Khotsagar and constable Venkatchalam, were initially taken to Goalpara Civil Hospital, Assam for medical treatment and later airlifted to Guwahati.
Constable Khotsagar sustained a bullet wound near his right collar bone while constable Venkatchalam was hit on his upper shoulder. Both are reportedly out of danger.
Although police were unable to apprehend any of the militants during the encounter, yet it yielded a substantial number of items including a powerful Claymore Improvised Explosive Device along with a remote controlled device, as many as 19 detonators, two hand grenades, three pistols with ten live rounds and three magazines, seven walkie talkie handsets, 130 rounds of AK ammo, 4 rounds of SLR and 10 rounds of 7.65 calibre ammunition.
Other items seized include 2 AK and 4 SLR magazines, GNLA demand and receipt pad and also an arrest pad, 5 numbers of GNLA ID card, 2 Election ID cards, 2 Labour ID cards and 51 mobile sim cards of various service providers.