Mass surrender of AMEF ultras in Garo Hills

10 cadres give up with arms, ammo

TURA: As many as ten militants from the A.Chik Matgrik Elite force (AMEF), who had been operating in the North Garo Hills region despite their top leadership giving up their armed struggle in December last, finally surrendered to authorities at Sambrak, near Wageasi on Friday afternoon handing over an assortment of weapons.
The surrender came about following the active intervention of the North Garo Hills Vigilance Forum (NGHVF) whose members comprise of church and village elders as well as NGOs.
The families of the ten militants and their respective village elders had approached the forum to facilitate the surrender of the ten men who had been operating in the Kharkutta-Mendipather-Wageasi-Dainadubi region.
The ten militants had failed to join the rest of the group and its leadership who went on to give themselves up to East Garo Hills police at Rongjeng in December.
The surrender ceremony at Sambrak took place before top police officials led by DIG in charge of Garo Hills S S Kynjing, SP Dr Raghavendra Kumar, DC S C Sadhu, Kharkutta MLA Cherak W Momin, Addl SP Abraham Sangma and SDPO Echeng Bhutia and the vigilance forum leaders and church elders.
The ten cadres of the outfit who surrendered are Saljatchi Marak,  Bulthul Marak, Banjrang Sangma, Jhony Marak, Premanear Marak, Aron Marak, Nibirth Marak, Tawan Marak, Jagol Sangma and Sengjan Sangma.
They handed over a powerful Light Machine Gun (LMG), 2 AK rifles, 2 pistols and a SBBL shot gun along with a large number of ammunition.
Authorities were surprised to see a little known group like the AMEF having in their possession a powerful LMG gun which can target even a flying helicopter at low altitude and light armor plated vehicles.
It is a happy occasion to see people give up their armed struggle and return to the mainstream, said Kharkutta MLA Cherak Momin. He said that all issues can be solved through dialogue and talks and appealed to all organizations and groups to take full opportunity to join the main stream and help in the peace process.