TURA: One of the three police personnel injured in the IED blast at Rewak area of Siju despite sustaining splinter injuries was able to pin down the militants and prevent them from looting the weapons by opening fire from a powerful mounted machine gun.
Battalion constable Brething K Sangma, seated at the back of the mini truck which was hit in the blast was able to open fire from a powerful light machine gun (LMG) that was in the vehicle as soon as the blast took place and the militants began firing from the nearby forests.
“Despite being hit Constable Brething let out several rounds of fire from the LMG he was carrying. He was joined by the rest of the armed personnel from the bullet proof vehicle who joined the firefight and forced the militants to flee before they could get their hands on any of the service weapons,” informed district police chief Lakador Syiem.
Close to two dozen armed GNLA men are believed to have taken part in the operation.
Police sources reveal that around 15-20 armed men suspected to be from the GNLA were spotted by villagers crossing the Simsang river, 3 km from the ambush site, shortly after the incident.
From the site of the blast police teams have recovered detonators, ball bearings and even nails used in the IED blast.
Targeted cops were en-route to ward off possible attack on outpost
The twelve police personnel in two vehicles which were targeted by suspected GNLA militants while travelling from Baghmara to Siju in South Garo Hills on Tuesday afternoon had been dispatched to strengthen the Siju police outpost against possible invasion by GNLA militants.
Highly placed police sources have revealed that Meghalaya police received ‘intelligence’ reports about a possible attack by GNLA militants on police installations in Garo Hills and the Home department had planned to strengthen the defense of vulnerable stations such as those like Siju located in remote terrains.
The twelve-member armed personnel were heading to Siju outpost ostensibly to reinforce the defense when they came under attack by suspected GNLA militants who triggered a powerful IED blast killing two personnel and causing injury to three others.
The GNLA had recently made public their plans to target police personnel and officers in retaliation for the Meghalaya government’s alleged refusal to accept their p