GNLA commander escapes arrest
January 27th, 2012 - 5:59 pm ICT by IANSShillong, Jan 27 (IANS) The Meghalaya Police came close to nabbing Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) commander-in-chief Sohan D’ Shira but he managed to escape, police said Friday.
“We had a tip-off that Sohan had been taking shelter in one of his hideouts near Rongri River, three km from Nengmendagre village in West Garo Hills district,” said DIG (Eastern Range) G.H.P. Raju.
A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of Meghalaya Police reached the hideout Thursday evening and cordoned off the area. However, it could not open fire as a woman and two children were among those in the camp. Sohan took advantage of the situation and escaped.
“Our team could have killed Sohan, who we have been on the lookout for so long. But had the police fired, there were chances that the women and kids would have been killed,” Raju said.
The SWAT commandos were pressed into service after suspected GNLA militants abducted two engineers of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) Jan 24.
The strategy of the outfit has been to abduct officials of power and cement plants and extort money. The outfit has killed over 20 people, including security personnel, in the last one year.
- Kidnapped engineers untraced, GNLA chief escapes (Lead) - Jan 27, 2012
- GNLA sets conditions to free abducted engineers - Jan 28, 2012
- Abducted Meghalaya engineers freed: Police - Feb 05, 2012
- 'Electification projects on in Garo Hills' - Jan 30, 2012
- Meghalaya Police announce reward for catching GNLA rebels - Apr 28, 2012
- Four GNLA rebels killed in Meghalaya - Aug 09, 2011
- Militant hideout busted in Meghalaya - Dec 12, 2010
- Garo militants abduct 2 Meghalaya engineers - Jan 25, 2012
- 10 days on, no trace of kidnapped Meghalaya engineers - Feb 03, 2012
- Fierce gunfight between Garo rebels, commandos - Jan 28, 2012
- Meghalaya launches operation to rescue abducted official - Nov 22, 2011
- Meghalaya rebels set conditions for releasing official - Nov 23, 2011
- Three Garo rebels surrender in Meghalaya - Jul 24, 2011
- GNLA commander killed, camp busted in Meghalaya - Sep 14, 2012
- Policeman and daughter shot at - Dec 03, 2011
Tags: abducted, cement plants, commander in chief, commandos, energy corporation, garo hills district, hideout, hideouts, jan 24, lookout, money, national liberation army, security personnel, shillong, shira, sohan, special weapons and tactics, swat team, west garo hills, west garo hills district