TURA, Sep 15: With the demise of the biggest rebel group — GNLA in 2018, it was believed that permanent peace would finally return to the Garo Hills. That now appears to be a mirage, if recent events are taken into consideration.
The gun battle in the heart of Tura town on Tuesday night has been an eye opener for authorities and citizens alike.
But this was not something that was chanced upon, if the recent history of Garo Hills is considered.
The vast armory of sophisticated weapons left buried in many unmarked sites in Garo Hills, particularly the hills of Durama across Simsang river not far from Williamnagar, remain prime picking for former rebels and those in the knowhow.
Last week’s seizure of improvised explosive devices left hidden underground in West Garo Hills is a testament to moves by criminals to reemerge in the terror world.
Even former chief minister Mukul Sangma has, this week, raised an alarm about movement of armed groups in Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills.
The encounter with police by an overground worker of two notorious outfits that once spread terror is a worrying sign for peace in the region.
To daringly whip out a powerful AK-56 rifle and challenge armed security force commandos by letting off a burst of automatic gunfire is something only a hardened criminal will dare.
And there are plenty of former armed men who walk the streets of town – a ticking time bomb, perhaps.
The gunman shot dead in the encounter was allied to two groups that were notorious for heinous crimes. He has been identified as Robison R. Marak of Raksamgre village in the Tikrikilla area. He was an overground worker of two outfits – United A’chik Liberation Army and A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok – that were active in the region from 2014 to 2018, engaging in various criminal activities, the police said.
A brief history of the two outfits says it all:
The A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok or ASAK outfit which means ‘Vanguard of Garoland’ was initially a rag tag group of ultras that was formed by a former GNLA commander Reding T Sangma alias Saljapang. Reding had fled from GNLA over differences with Sohan D Shira who accused him of misappropriating funds belonging to the rebel group.
Reding T Sangma’s ASAK outfit gained notoriety when on September 24, 2015 they waylaid a Sumo vehicle going from Rongara border town towards Baghmara in South Garo Hills and abducted central Intelligence Bureau official Bikash Singh and a cloth merchant Kamal Saha.
In the most inhuman of ways, the militants murdered both captives and dumped their bodies in a shallow grave.
With massive police operations launched and the accusing finger on the group, ASAK tried to divert attention by first denying involvement and then blaming a non-existent foreign group called Bangladesh Tiger Force as behind the abduction.
But, a month later, police search teams located the unmarked grave containing the remains of the IB official and the merchant inside a forest in Bolchugre, near the Bangladesh border in South Garo Hills.
Five months later, in February 2016, Meghalaya police commandos shot dead ASAK commander, Sengbath D Shira, who was involved in the murder of the IB official and the merchant during a raid on their hideout at Kemdang village of South Garo Hills.
One year later, with the noose tightening around their necks as SF-10 commandos of Meghalaya police ran a sustained counter insurgency operation in the jungles of South Garo Hills, the last remaining members of ASAK outfit led by their chief Reding T Sangma surrendered before South Garo Hills police.
United A’chik Liberation Army (UALA) was formed in 2012 but gave up arms three years later, in 2015. It was formed by Singbirth Marak alias Norrok X Momin who gained notoriety for an attack on Williamnagar jail in February 2013 leading to the cold-blooded murder of two prison officials by Norrok who had targeted them over personal enmity.
Norrok was killed in a police encounter with SF-10 commandos in North Garo Hills in February 2017.
