Manipur rebels, who had once trained the budding counterparts in Meghalaya, have reasons to be worried by the controversial killings by the latter in their State. Most of the victims were apparently innocent persons.
The most heinous incident took place recently when a 35-year-old woman was killed in the presence of her four children at Chokpat in Garo Hills of Meghalaya. The Garo National Liberation Army justified it saying that she was a police informer.
At least, 12 persons have been gunned down on this vague charge in the past two years. From January 2010 to June 23, 2013, as many as 233 people were killed of which 110 were reportedly militants. Besides, 17 policemen were killed during this period.
According to sources, senior cadres used to visit Meghalaya to train budding rebels in bank heists, ambushing of State and Central forces and other insurgency related activities.
Voluntary services These were voluntary services without taking any payment. But now there is reason to suspect that some of the rebels in Meghalaya might have strayed away from the revolutionary campaign.
Sources said that vigilance along the border has been stepped up since it is feared that the rebels are going to sanctuaries in Bangladesh through the Meghalaya border. Intelligence reports also say that rebel groups from other NE states use this route to send money and bring illegal weapons. In the past, Tripura was the exit or entry point for the sanctuaries in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is reported to be under pressure to declare Garo Hills as disturbed. However, there are objections from civil organisations since the next step could be clamping of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, which gives carte blanche to security forces while launching counter-insurgency operations.
