289 HNLC militants arrested while 27 others killed

Shillong, July 5 (UNI) Meghalaya Police has arrested 289 Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council members while 119 others have surrendered over the last nine years before the government, Inspector General of Police B L Buam said here today.

Briefing reporters at the state police headquarters, Mr Buam, in-charge of Meghalaya's Eastern Range, said the 289 arrested HNLC militants and 27 killed was from 1996 to 2005.

Out of the 119 surrendered HNLC militants, the police official said the screening committee had accepted 96 ultras as surrendered militants, while 19 were rejected due to ''doubt of credential'' and the committee was processing four HNLC militants who surrendered recently.

So far, he said the HNLC militants have surrendered along with two AK-47 rifle, one AK-56 rifle, two SLR rifles, 1310 rounds of live ammunition of various types, four explosives, three 9 mm pistols, two M-20 pistols, three .3 revolvers, one .22 rifle, one revolver, one carbine, seven magazines and two high-frequency wireless sets.

Mr Buam said most of the HNLC militants were forced to surrender due to the '' ill-treatment'' meted out by the three-top HNLC leaders in Bangladesh.

''The ill-treatment of the HNLC leaders has led their cadres to surrender,'' said the police official, adding that most of them had realised that joining the militant outfit was a wrong decision.

Mr Buam further informed that a new package for surrendered militants has been implemented in the state by increasing an immediate grant of Rs 75000 to Rs 1,50000 lakh for any militant who surrendered with at least one weapon.

However, he said, in exceptional and deserving cases, militants who surrender without arms may be also be considered for rehabilitation under the scheme.

Meanwhile, the state police appealed to the public to support the police to uproot militancy in the state.

Without public support, the state police alone cannot uproot the militancy problem in the state.

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