By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma has admitted that the militant outfits operating in the State have easy access to sophisticated weapons.
Referring to the recent seizure of arms belonging to the Garo outfit GNLA, the Chief Minister said, “These arms are made neither in Meghalaya nor in Assam, yet still made their way to the State.”
Addressing a function organized by the Indo – Tibetan Border Police Force in city on Monday, Dr Sangma said militancy has become a business.
The attack on a GNLA camp by SWAT units of Garo Hills police near Williamnagar on Friday led to the recovery of a highly sophisticated Heckler and Koch (HK) 5.56mm calibre automatic rifle made in Germany.
The cops also recovered a rifle with a complete set that included a powerful telescope which could be operated during the night as a night vision glass and laser technology for target spotting.
According to him, the militant outfits have a multiple source for procuring highly sophisticated arms and ammunition.
Manipur and Nagaland are said to be the main centres from where sophisticated arms are being sent to Garo Hills where a major insurgency upsurge is continuing for the last three years.
India-China war ruled out: Meanwhile, the Director General of Indo -Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Ranjit Sinha has ruled out possibility of India and China indulging in a physical war.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Sinha said “Security forces of both the countries are meeting regularly to maintain peace and calm across the border.”
While admitting that the Chinese authorities have upgraded their infrastructure on their side, the senior ITBP official said, “The Government of India has taken note of it and diplomatic parleys are also going on to maintain normalcy.”
It may be mentioned that the relationship between the two countries has remained uncertain for sometime now with reports of intrusion by the Chinese authorities.
