TURA: South Garo Hills police on Tuesday morning busted a hideout of Garo National Liberation Army set up as an extortion centre to collect money from coal quarries and trucks in the Nangalbibra area.
Coal export from the mineral-rich Nangalbibra region of South Garo Hills was only recently given permission by authorities.
Police teams rushed to Maidugittim, 10 km from Nangalbibra, following reports about the presence of GNLA rebels in the area.
When security forces arrived at the scene they spotted around 10 rebels heading towards the village from the nearby forests. Seeing the police presence, the militants opened fire leading to an encounter for close to ten minutes. There were no casualties on either side with police restraining from an all-out offensive in view of the presence of civilians in the area where the firing took place. The rebels fled soon after the gun battle while security forces thereafter carried out a search for the hidden camp in the forests. Police have not ruled out the presence of GNLA rebel chief Sohan D Shira in the camp. They also indicate that the motive of the rebels was to set up base in the Maidugittim area to run an extortion racket targetting the coal trade.
A majority of coal quarries are located in nearby Rongding Awe from where the mineral is transported in trucks through the highway via Nangalbibra into neighbouring Assam and beyond.
“The dense forests surrounding Maidugittim gives a vantage point to the rebels because of its proximity to the coal quarries and this was in the plan of the GNLA to establish a collection point,” said police sources in Garo Hills.
