Shillong, May 9 (IANS): Another 14 rebels of the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) on Monday surrendered to Meghalaya Home Minister Roshan Warjri along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition.
A police spokesman said among those who laid down their arms was Belding Ch. Marak alias Rakkam, the "finance secretary" of the outfit and "area commander" Mathew Ch. Marak alias Sacheng of Chokpot bordering Bangladesh.
"I wanted to live a normal life after facing the hardships in the jungles and disunity among GNLA cadres," Rakkam, who led the others to surrender, said at the State Police headquarters here.
The rebels deposited four AK and one HK rifles, pistols, grenade, 144 rounds of ammunition, four wireless hand sets and incriminating documents.
"The surrender of the finance secretary will have an adverse impact on the functioning of the GNLA as he is the key person to distribute money for sustaining his cadres," Meghalaya police chief Rajiv Mehta told the media.
Mehta said they expected more GNLA rebels to surrender in the days to come in the wake of the ongoing counter-insurgency code-named "Hill Storm-3" in the insurgency-ridden districts of Garo Hills.
He said the operation to nab Sohan D.Shira, the military chief of GNLA, was on.
Home Minster Warjri said the surrenders on Monday would send "a strong message to other rebels".
