TURA: Eleven members of a newly formed militant outfit were arrested from Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, police said. The police said on Friday said that the self-styled chairman of the outfit named Achik National Socialist Council, Chekam Ch Sangma was arrested from Hawakhana area of the district.
"Chekham was picked up from Hawakhana on September 2 ... He disclosed during interrogation that he formed the new group with another 25-30 like-minded people," West Garo Hills SP Vivekanand Singh said in a statement.
The SP said that 10 others were arrested over the last few days and two guns and a pistol were seized from their possession.
Singh said that the group was apparently in the process of collecting weapons to start its operations with activities like kidnapping, extortion. "They were in the process of undergoing training after enough weapons were procured. A case has been filed in this regard and an investigation is currently underway," the SP added.
Many of the arrested persons were earlier associated with various militant groups in the Garo Hills hill region (consisting of five districts in Western Meghalaya).