From Staff Correspondent
Shillong, April 28: The Garo tiol Liberation Army (GNLA) does not have any anti- aircraft equipments in its arsel but the police have not taken the proscribed outfit lightly.
The GNLA had threatened to fire at the helicopters after the State Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Mehta stated that the police can even use air surveillances in counter insurgency operations in Garo Hills.
A well placed source in the Shillong Police headquarter told this correspondent, although there is no specific input about the anti-aircraft equipments in the GNLA armoury, but a self loading rifle or light machine gun can cause damage to a helicopter that is flying at a lower height.
He also said that the intelligence inputs does not suggest that the banned GNLA is toying with the idea of procuring such expensive weapons that can down a helicopter.
Making it clear that police are not taking any such threat nonchalantly, the source, however, said, “Let me highlight that the police have not even requisitioned nor have inducted any helicopter even for logistical purposes”.
Meanwhile, another source from Garo Hills informed that the GNLA was trying to show its strength in the past few weeks, but were not successful as they were a dispersed lot.