Shillong: Rebels from Meghalaya have gunned down 14 people within a week, the latest being two Border Security Force troopers killed yesterday in the South West Khasi Hills.
A group of suspected rebels of the breakaway faction of the A’chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC-B) attacked the Kathakona Border Outpost in Bagli, killing a trooper, Sashit Biswa, on the spot, BSF spokesman Mahendra Singh said.
Another trooper, Pappu Kumar Yadav, who was airlifted to Guwahati succumbed to his injuries. The ANVC-B rebels also decamped with two INSAS rifles and a wireless handset from the slain troopers.
“Preliminary investigation indicates the ANVC-B had carried out the attack on our BOP (Border Outpost) and a manhunt is on to nab the killers,” Singh said. Bagli is about 150 km from the state capital Shillong and known to be the heartland of the ANVC-B and the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army which was involved in killing five Meghalaya policemen on Tuesday.
Yesterday’s attack on the BSF troopers came as a surprise for the Meghalaya Police since there were no intelligence inputs on any rebel outfit planning to attack the paramilitary force camp in the South West Khasi Hills. “Unlike the two incidents (South Garo Hills and Assam’s Goalpara districts) where we have intelligence inputs about rebels planning to carry out hit-and-run operations, today’s (Friday’s) attacks on the BSF was a surprise since there were no alert,” a Meghalaya Police official, said on condition of anonymity.IANS
