62 IED recovered, GNLA’s Chief hideout busted in Meghalaya
Shillong
During the last two days Security forces in Meghalaya recovered 62 IED and busted GNLA’s chief hideout. Security forces on Friday busted the hideout of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) commander-in-chief Sohan D’ Shira but he managed to escape along with his rebels. Security forces busted several camps of northeast militant groups during the last two days, and recovered as made as 62 powerful handmade Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from remote insurgency infested Garo hill close to the Indo-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya.
On Wednesday night, a joint combing team of Meghalaya’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos, assisted by the Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force, launched a massive combing operation , ‘Operation Hill Storm 3′ to flush out militants from the Durama range.
“Our security forces overran the hideout of Sohan Shira (GNLA commander-in-chief) located between Pathalgre area and Adugre area in East Garo Hills but he managed to escape during the exchange of fire with the rebels,” Inspector General of Police (Operations), G.H.P.Raju said.
“Preliminary report from the ground indicates that Sohan managed to escape from the gunfight, but the SWAT commandos are still continuing with the combing operation to track down the escaped rebels,” he said.
The Durama hill range is a vast, densely forested area in the Garo Hills which the GNLA and ULFA-I rebels have been using as a sanctuary. Sohan D. Shira, chief of the GNLA’s military wing, controls his rebels from Durama. The GNLA, fighting for a separate Garoland in western Meghalaya, has also forged an alliance with the Bangladesh-based rebel group, A’chik Special Dragon. It also has links with the ULFA and the NDFB.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya government has already sent a preliminary report about the recovery of huge cache of IEDs in past two days to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), intelligence sleuths are now trying to piece together if there is a fresh threat to the internal security of the nation on the eastern frontier, military intelligence sources added.
