SHILLONG, Nov 10: Two heavily armed kidnappers were shot dead by Meghalaya police on Thursday in West Garo Hills district during an operation to rescue two persons held hostage by them, police said.
The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday at Dibru Hill Reserve Forest, it said.
The kidnappers had held the two persons from Assam, one of them a minor, hostage and demanded Rs 30 lakh from each of them as ransom, Superintendent of Police Vivekanand Singh said.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma mentioned the incident in a Twitter post.
“Vigilant police killed two kidnappers in retaliatory firing and recovered one AK 47 rifle, one 9 mm pistol, 32 live rounds and 33 empty rounds. The two persons have now been rescued!” he tweeted.
Congratulating the police and Director-General of Police LR Bishnoi, the CM said the two kidnappers were not residents of Meghalaya and “tried to jeopardise peace in Meghalaya.”
Singh told PTI that kidnappers were killed in retaliatory firing by the police and their arms were found near their bodies.
The two kidnappers were from Assam and Meghalaya, he said.
One of the victims, a resident of Guwahati, was a taxi driver who went missing since November 4. On November 9 police from Goalpara in Assam had informed Meghalaya police that a child was kidnapped and kept in West Garo Hills district, the SP said. (PTI)
