Two injured in attack by militants in Meghalaya

Shillong: Two persons were injured on Wednesday when heavily armed militants fired at two petrol pumps and a police radio office in Meghalaya`s West Garo Hills District.

Suspected Garo National Liberation Army militants fired at a petrol pump at Charingre village, about 15 kms from Tura, the district headquarters, injuring two persons, police sources said. The two, Nobo Hajong and Bishwajeet Saha, were hospitalised, while an employee of the pump, Pradeep Kumar, managed to escape, the sources said. The militants hurled a grenade at another petrol pump in Duragre. They then fired at the Meghalaya Police Radio Office at Darinchegre, a neighbouring village, the sources said. Special Weapons and Tactics commandos and paramilitary forces launched a search for the militants, who according to intelligence inputs had smuggled in explosives and detonators from Bangladesh, the sources said. The attack followed a raid on the headquarters of the GNLA by SWAT commandos in the forests of Adugre in Durama Hills of East Garo Hills yesterday which resulted in a gun battle for several hours, East Garo Hills district police chief JFK Marak said. The district police detected the militants crossing over from Bangladesh in the early hours yesterday. "The GNLA has targeted certain urban pockets and we will not allow this to happen," South Garo Hills Superintendent of Police Davis Nestell R Marak said. "Operations against the militants who slipped inside our border are still on," he said. The GNLA is fighting for a "sovereign Garoland" in the western areas of the state.