SHILLONG: East Garo Hills Superintendent of Police (SP), Davies Nestell R Marak has confirmed that the GNLA militant who was killed in an encounter with police at a village between Patalgre and Adugre deep within the Durama Hill range on Thursday morning was actually the militant Chief’s personal bodyguard.
Earlier, there had been many questions about the veracity of the police claim since there was no mention of their engaging in gun battle with the other cadres who would most likely have been posted as sentries at several locations before the police team came into contact with the militant chief’s personal bodyguard.
Informing that the slain militant was Milton D Shira alias Gratewell the police chief said that the police team had a lucky break as there were no sentries posted on their approach to the makeshift camp although they had been there on other locations.
He said it was Gratewell who was the only one to fire when they reached the militant camp as they were somehow able to bypass all other sentry points.
“We were somehow able to bypass all the other sentry points posted on other locations. There was none along our approach to the camp and Gratewell was the only one to fire at us. We retaliated and he was killed in the ensuing gunfire,” the SP said.
The SP also said that the camp was not a permanent but a makeshift one which had been transformed into one from a cave in the rock.
According to him the militants were just barely beginning to build the camp when the police team came upon them and struck.
Meanwhile, it is a well known fact that Sohan D shira is guarded really well by the GNLA which is one of the reasons why the militant chief manages to escape the clutches of the police on many occasions.
On earlier occasions even sources from within the police department revealed how difficult it is to come in direct contact with the GNLA Chief due to the intricate manner in which he is guarded by his cadres.
According to them there are several sentry points each comprising of 10 or 15 cadres some distance apart from each other that the police team has to get through first to come into contact with the militant chief and his personal bodyguard.