SHILLONG: The surrendered rebels have narrated the sequence of events which unfolded leading to the death of their chief Sohan D Shira at the hands of SF-10 commandos claiming that he was caught off-guard while the rest of his gunmen were still scaling the hill to his location.
“I was told to stay put at the place where he was taking refuge while they all went down to have a bath. Sohan was the first to finish his bath and come up to his hideout and I was asked to move away to a distance to keep guard when suddenly shots were fired from the jungle towards him,” said Timbil Ch Marak alias Churik who was Sohan’s bodyguard.
When asked how many shots were fired, Churik could not answer but said it was coming from the rear side. “There was no exchange of fire. The firing was only from the police side because everyone who was coming up the hill started to descend and flee on hearing the gunshots,” recalled Churik.However, Meghalaya police downplayed Churik’s claim saying there was an exchange of fire leading to the death of the GNLA chief. Another senior cadre Rahul S Sangma alias Nikam denied they were part of the ambush party that targeted the convoy of NCP candidate Jonathone Sangma claiming that they were asked to stay put in the hideout.
“On the night of the attack on Jonathone Sangma, Sohan along with Drishti Rajkhowa and another ULFA cadre left us behind and went out. They returned the same night and only later we came to know about the IED blast,” said Nikam.
