TURA: North Garo Hills police and CRPF teams raided a hideout of the GNLA at Makkre Adap in Kharkutta region on Friday night leading to a brief encounter in which the militants fled leaving behind an automatic rifle along with several incriminating documents.
Police target had been to capture wanted GNLA militant Bartius Momin who is wanted in several cases of abduction and extortion. The militant who went by the name of Wallang hails from Megam Akong village of Kharkutta and was involved in encounters with security forces as well as abduction of traders from Adokgre market.
The militant operated under the GNLA command of northern commander Pilliport Shira. Although police were unable to get the militant, they were successful in recovering his self loading rifle (SLR) which he used for several criminal activities.
Along with the SLR police also recovered 18 live rounds for the weapon along with GNLA demand notes and receipt books signed by the GNLA finance secretary, mobile phones and personal items. Police are in the process of scrutinizing the serial number of the weapon to check whether it was snatched from security forces during ambush by the banned outfit. The SLR is a standard weapon given primarily to central paramilitary and state police force in the country. There have been previous instances when the banned GNLA had ambushed police teams and decamped with SLRs, INSAS and AK rifles.
