Four militants shot dead in Meghalaya

, Jan 12: Four heavily-armed militants were shot dead in an encounter with the police shortly after the ultras lobbed a crude bomb near a petrol pump damaging vehicles in

's West Garo Hills district.

The incident took place late last night on the road to Kerapara on the outskirts of Tura, the district headquarters, police said today. "Four armed militants were killed in the encounter with the special police team, a few km from the district headquarters," West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police Mukesh Singh told PTI.

He said the police team were pursuing the militants who had lobbed a grenade near the petrol pump. The militants fired randomly at the police team and four militants were shot dead in retaliatory fire which lasted for nearly an hour, Singh said.

A huge cache of weapons were recovered from the camp that include IEDs, rockets, pistols, automatic rifles and even traditional bows and arrows.

The police said the camp belonged to ANVC-B cadre who fled their camps at Edenbari following a raid last week that left two officers injured.

PTI