TURA: South Garo Hills police recovered firearms and ammunition from a GNLA hideout in the forests of Chokpot following a gun battle on Sunday night.
The militants were believed to have been on their way to the Chokpot region from Durama Hills range when the shootout began. The police had information about them arriving at Keni Badimagre village, which is 18km away from Chokpot, on Sunday night.
District police chief Abraham T Sangma said there were around 14 rebels but it could not be confirmed whether GNLA chief Sohan D Shira was with them. However, villagers claimed to have seen as many as 21 armed men before the encounter.
The GNLA cadres on guard saw the commandos coming towards the village around 10.30pm and opened fire, the SP informed.
While there were no casualties on either side, police recovered an AK rifle with three magazines and 90 rounds of ammunition that had been left behind by the rebels. The militants also abandoned a magazine of light machine gun, a GNLA flag, ammo pouches and camouflage uniforms.
A police source said, “Given the sheer velocity of the gun fight, it appears to have been a big group and the firing from their end was relentless. It appears that they were trying to protect someone very important.”
Following a string of surrenders by GNLA rebels from Chokpot region earlier this year, the rebels had abandoned much of their domain.
