Three ambush spots located
From Our Correspondent
TURA: A four vehicle police convoy that was travelling from Nangalbibra to Siju in South Garo Hills was ambushed by suspected GNLA militants who triggered a powerful improvised explosive device causing extensive damage to the lead vehicle and minor injuries to two policemen near Jaisugittim village on Friday morning.
The convoy belonging to the 4th MLP Battalion was carrying rations for its various units operating in the Garo Hills region.
The retaliation by the banned GNLA is believed to be in response to recent setbacks suffered at the hands of the State police in which several of its cadres have either been killed or arrested and hideouts busted in different districts of Garo Hills, the most recent being on Wednesday night in Salmanpara’s Santogre village of South West Garo Hills where one senior cadre was shot dead and another injured.
Following the blast police teams fanned out to different corners of the region and reportedly identified three other potential ambush points between Siju and Rewak where the militants had recently been laying in wait.
The four vehicles ration party, comprising of three buses and a police gypsy, had arrived at Nangalbibra the previous day and on Thursday morning was proceeding to Siju and other areas where its personnel are deployed for supply of rations.
The 4th MLP battalion is headquartered at Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills.
The convoy had just crossed the outskirts of Jaisugittim village, 35 km away from Baghmara, and was approaching a bridge at approximately 9:30 AM when the concealed Claymore IED planted on the right side of the road was detonated by remote control.
The blast extensively damaged the outer side portion of the first bus but the policeman behind the wheel, driver constable Robirth Nonglait, miraculously escaped with minor splinter injuries on his face.
Another battalion constable inside the vehicle, Tennyson Ch Marak, sustained injuries from the impact of the blast. Both have been admitted to Williamnagar Civil Hospital for medical treatment and are out of danger.
The militants who were perched atop a hill overlooking the road also opened fire from automatic weapons but were returned fire by the armed battalion personnel forcing them to flee into the deep forests.
Following the attack, a red alert was sounded throughout the region for more possible ambushes and police commandos combing the forested and isolated route came across three ambush spots in the Siju and Rewak reserve forest area where suspected militants had lay in wait to create more mayhem. Abandoned food items such as biscuits and other snacks were reportedly found at the three sites, informed district police chief Anand Mishra.
One of the three spots where suspected militants had lay in wait was in the Rewak reserve forest where a similar ambush was laid by the GNLA militants on November 18, 2014 in which two policemen were killed and three others sustained injuries after their gypsy vehicle was hit by an IED blast.
Five GNLA ultras held in West Khasi Hills
In an early morning operation on Friday, Shallang Police nabbed five GNLA underground workers from Nongchram in West Khasi Hills, our Nongstoin correspondent reports.
“After getting information about the presence of GNLA militants at Nongchram an operation was conducted this morning by officers and SWAT of Shallang PS at Nongchram,” informed district Superintendent of Police S. Nongtnger.
During the operation, the police team recovered an Alto car, a motorbike, 2 mobile phones, a bank passbook and cash Rs 18,000.
The underground GNLA workers were identified as Charles D Shira (25), a former Achik National Central Liberation Army (ANCLA) member who had surrendered at Shillong in 2014 along with an AK rifle, Daniel M Sangma (26), Juningbirth M Sangma (22), Rajesh Sangma (24) and Apseng G Momin (19), all residents of West Khasi Hills.