In a major success, the Meghalaya Police on Saturday recovered a large cache of weapons, including 79 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition from a forest in Pilgonggre area of the state’s East Garo Hills district, an official said.
A police official said that the arms and ammunition were suspected to be of the banned militant outfit Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA).
Acting on a tip-off, a police team launched an operation in the forest area under Williamnagar police station early on Saturday and recovered the huge cache of arms and ammunition, the official added.
The recovered weapons included 79 rounds of live anti-aircraft ammunition, 175 rounds of 7.7 ammunition, 10 electrical detonators, one 12-bore double barrel and approximately 250 grams of gelatin.
It is suspected that the arms might be hidden by GNLA chief Sohan D Shira, who died in a police encounter in 2018.
A case has been registered, and police have launched a probe into the recovery of the huge cache of arms and explosives.
On a few occasions earlier, the security forces recovered arms and ammunition, mostly belonging to the GNLA, from the deep jungle. Many cadres of the militant group have been arrested in the past by the Meghalaya Police.
