TURA: One of the members of a GNLA execution squad, who was behind the cold blooded murder of 34-year-old Josbina Sangma, a mother of four children, in Chokpot two years back, was shot dead during an encounter with police at Bangsi Alda village of Mendipather on Tuesday afternoon.
Wanted GNLA militant Bartius Momin of Megam Akong village, who went by the name of Barti and Walnang in the outfit, was present at Rongpakgre village of Chokpot in 2014 along with GNLA militants Tengton and Jangjang and others when they went to the home of Josbina Sangma and shot her dead in front of her family.
On Tuesday, as police commandos were approaching Bangsi Alda village under Dainadubi outpost at around 3:30 PM around five armed GNLA militants tried to ambush them leading to a heavy exchange of gunfire. During the gun battle one militant was hit and killed as the rest fled from the scene.
From the encounter site police recovered a 9mm carbine machine gun with seven live rounds as well as 45 rounds of AK rifle ammunition. From the garments of the deceased militant police recovered a GNLA identity card with the name Walnang T Sangma alias Barti Momin indicating the deceased was the wanted GNLA militant who had only a few days ago given police the slip during an encounter at Makre Adap in which he fled leaving behind a SLR rifle.
The deceased was the local commander of GNLA for the Kharkutta region and had caused havoc orchestrating abductions, extortion and even murder.
He reportedly planned the kidnapping and subsequent murder of police constable Khonraj Bhattarai while the latter was travelling in a public vehicle from Mendipather to Songsak, last year. He was also behind the abduction of well known Adokgre trader Batchu Jain and another merchant.
In June 2014, Bartius Momin along with GNLA cadres Jangjang and Tengton barged into the house of Josbina Marak at Rongpakgre and accused her of being a police collaborator.
They dragged her outside and opened fire from close range resulting in a portion of her face and head getting blown off from the impact of the blast.
The murder which was witnessed by her husband and four young children, the eldest being just ten years old, sent shock waves throughout India and beyond leading to mass condemnation of the militants.
In the face of widespread condemnation, the GNLA shifted the killers to East Garo Hills command to avoid police pressure but the law caught up with them soon after. One of the killers who pulled the trigger and identified as Jangjang was shot dead by police commandos in a raid on their jungle hideout.
Police continue to pursue the other killer identified as Tengton who remains with the GNLA in one of their hideouts in the Garo Hills .
