Villager killed in crossfire between police and Sohan group

TURA: A counter-insurgency operation by Meghalaya police to neutralise dreaded GNLA chief Sohan D Shira turned tragic after a civilian got killed in the crossfire in a remote region of South Garo Hills late Thursday afternoon.
The place where the encounter took place is located on the extreme corner of the district adjacent to West Khasi Hills region.
Police intelligence had a day earlier indicated that Sohan along with a 32-member strong well armed rebel group were taking refuge in Khalu area of the West Khasi Hills-South Garo Hills border. A counter insurgency operation was launched from two fronts- Nongstoin and Baghmara, to nab the rebel leader  who has managed to give police the slip over a dozen times.
“Our operational teams from both districts combed the Khalu area and came to know that Sohan had already left the area in a general direction. Our search teams proceeded on towards the remote Rongsu Agal area where the encounter occurred,” said district SP Anand Mishra.
Police commandos reportedly descended on remote Rongregre village, beyond Siju and the Simsang river, to look for the militants.
The police teams are said to have wrapped up their search operation of the village and were relaxing themselves over a cup of tea in the same village when the GNLA militants opened fire from a small hillock at around 2:30 pm.
A heavy exchange of fire began to take place sending villagers scurrying for cover and it was during the gun battle that one of the village elders got hit in the crossfire.
The injured civilian was rushed to the nearest health centre but died on the way.
Police later recovered from the position of the militants’ hideout a shotgun and several live rounds of AK ammunition left behind by the retreating ultras.