TURA: A rebel from the GNLA outfit who escaped many a police encounter with his former chief, Sohan D Shira, has given himself up to police at Baghmara on Monday.
GNLA cadre Bappus D Shira alias Tapsro (25) hailing from Simakona village in Siju-Rongara region surrendered before South Garo Hills police chief Abraham T Sangma after contacting local church leaders.
During his stint in the GNLA ,he was part of Sohan D Shira’s group and had narrow escape from several encounters with police at Halwa Bilda, Rongsu Banagittim and Bolbokgre forests in the district.
Prior to his joining the GNLA, he was with the ANVC-B outfit which gave him arms training at Pendengru forests.
After his joining the GNLA he was tasked by Sohan D Shira to help the outfit by supplying camouflage uniforms from neighbouring Bangladesh. He was formally recruited into the GNLA in February 2017 and made a part of the GNLA chief’s inner security circle.
He revealed to police that his stint with the outfit in South Garo Hills included helping rebels to cross over to and fro Bangladesh via Simakona and Horipur villages. He further confessed to having visited Mymensing and Durgapur towns in Bangladesh to purchase supplies for the GNLA and had personally ferried the consignments back into Garo Hills.
Following the death of the GNLA chief in a police encounter one week ago, the rebels of the banned outfit have been in total disarray. One rebel surrendered soon after the killing of their chief and Bappus is the second rebel to give himself up.