Shillong, June 17 (IANS) A gun battle ensued in Meghalaya’s restive West Garo Hills district Monday after Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels tossed a faulty grenade at a police team.
No casualty was reported, police said.
The gun battle, which lasted for 10 to 15 minutes, began when GNLA rebels lobbed a grenade at towards a police team in Rangdapara area.
The rebels were on the way to a market to collect extortion money from a coal businessman.
“It was a miraculous escape for the police team as the grenade did not explode,” Mukesh Kumar Singh, district police chief of West Garo Hills, told IANS.
GNLA rebels had lobbed a grenade at Williamnagar police station in the district headquarter of East Garo Hills Sunday night and damaged two official quarters.
Police have launched a manhunt to nab the attackers.
The GNLA, headed by rogue police officer-turned rebel Champion R. Sangma, has unleashed a reign of terror in the three impoverished districts of Garo Hills in western Meghalaya. The outfit is fighting for a Garoland.
However, Champion was arrested July 30, 2012, near the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya. He was accused of waging a war against India.
