TURA: South Garo Hills police are investigating a shooting case in which a man from nearby Assam landed up in a hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg in the coal belt region of Nangalbibra on Thursday.
The 19-year-old victim, Kamrul Islam, hailing from Bilasipara village of New Bongaigaon in Assam, came to the Patalgittim government health centre in Nangalbibra seeking medical aid for the bullet injury.
When police arrived on the scene, he told them that he had come looking for work in an area known as Komila Bagan when five unidentified men accosted him.
According to the injured man, the mixed gang included locals and was led by a non-tribal Muslim person who brandished a pistol. The group demanded money from him and when he failed to meet their demands shot him in the leg and fled.
He has since been shifted to Goalpara hospital for further medical treatment and police are scouting the mentioned area for clues about presence of any armed gang of criminals.
Of late, ever since the NGT ban on coal mining was imposed business activities in the coal belt of Nangalbibra-Jadigittim area fell drastically and crimes had also plummeted as many criminal elements abandoned the area in search of greener pastures.
The ban also impacted the militant groups as their main source of funding too dried up compelling dozens of rebels, including top leaders, to give up the armed struggle and surrender to authorities.