SHILLONG: Five heavily armed Garo militants were today shot dead by security forces at Chiokgre in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
Acting on a tip-off that militants of the United A'chik Liberation Army (UALA) have taken shelter in a house in the area, a team of state police and CRPF's Cobra commandos moved in and on reaching the spot they were fired at, DGP J P Hanaman said.
In retaliation, five UALA cadres were shot dead in the premises even as their self-styled chief Norok had a narrow escape taking advantage of the presence of a child and darkness, he said.
Norok was a former leader of the ANVC group which has signed a peace pact with the Centre and the state before he deserted the parent organisation to form his own outfit.
A search operation is on to track the escaped leader who was believed to be involved in killing seven persons in Assam's Goalpara district in November last year, Hanaman said.
The militant leader was released from the district jail in Williamnagar last year before he shot dead two jailors and made other attacks on security forces in the district.
Police recovered three A K series rifles and a pistol from the place of encounter.