Cops foil bid to abduct traders in Garo Hills, constable hurt

TURA: A police constable sustained a bullet injury on his hand when armed rebels opened fire during a botched operation to abduct a group of traders returning from the weekly market at remote Gabil on Wednesday afternoon.
Half a dozen armed men, suspected to be from the GNLA, were trying to abduct the returning traders at approximately 2 PM when a police patrolling team spotted them near Kamagre village in Gabil area on the West Garo Hills side of the border.
On seeing the police team, the armed men opened indiscriminate fire and fled into the undergrowth abandoning their kidnapping plans. A police head constable from the West Garo Hills district executive force, Sengbat Marak, who was part of the security team sustained a bullet injury on his hand and has since been brought to Tura for medical treatment even  as combing operations take place to apprehend the fleeing ultras.
Police claim that the armed men belong to the GNLA’s northern command and had been targeting traders travelling to weekly markets for business.
In view of the rise in the number of abductions most weekly markets in Garo Hills now have police presence.