The stash of hidden weapons allegedly belonging to the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) are still making headlines, with new recoveries being reported from many areas in both South and East Garo Hills.
The latest addition to the long list of recoveries of ammunition found stashed apparently by the outfit’s members were made this morning in the village of Patalgre in the Durama Range in East Garo Hills district.
The recoveries were made at about 1:30 am after a search of an area under the village by SF–10 commandos of the Meghalaya police.
“In our continuous effort to trace hidden weapons by militants in the jungles of Durama range, we recovered 5 numbers of 7.65 mm automatic pistols suspected to belong to the GNLA,” district police chief, BA Sangma informed.
Police had earlier received a tip off of the presence of weapons hidden by militants in the village which led to a search led by senior officers with the SF–10 personnel.
The weapons that were recovered were in a rusted state as they remained under the ground for a long time.
“The weapons were brought to Williamnagar police station for further verification and a case was registered to complete the investigation,” police said.
Earlier on November 14, the same district had reported another ammunition stash near Nongchram area under the same district, which also was hidden by the once dreaded outfit.
After the death of the GNLA self-styled commander in chief, Sohan D Shira in an encounter with police, in early 2018, East and South Garo Hills have made more than a dozen recoveries of hidden arms and ammunition, purportedly of the GNLA. The search for such arms and ammunition continues even now in both districts, which were once the stronghold of the outfit and its members.
