Meghalaya police today gunned down a constable, who had deserted the force and joined the banned Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militant group, in an encounter at a remote village in East Garo Hills district, police said.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the Swift Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandos of the state police conducted an operation at Rengregre village under Williamnagar police station limits in the Durama hills range.
"At around 4:30 am today an exchange of fire took place between police commandos and the GNLA cadre where a senior GNLA cadre Savio Marak was killed," Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) G H P Raju told PTI.
A pistol was recovered from the possession of the slain militant, he said.
Savio, hailing from Williamnagar had served as a constable before he deserted the force in 2011 along with an INSAS service rifle during the time when he was deputed for law and order duty at Mendipathar to control the ethnic clash between the Garos and the Rabhas, Raju said.
According to the police, Savio was influenced by his uncle Rupanto Marak who was the deputy Commander-in-Chief of the GNLA.
Police believed that he was instrumental behind the killing of four police personnel in October 2011 at Dobu, also under Williamnagar PS limits, besides the killing of a tribal village chief in 2012.
