By IANS,
Guwahati : About 200 tribal militants armed with guns and machetes overran a paramilitary post in Assam Friday, injuring four troopers and decamping with more than 20 automatic weapons, officials said.
A police spokesperson said heavily armed militants attacked a camp of the paramilitary India Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Chekarcham, bordering Manipur, about 360 km south of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“The IRB troopers were taken by surprise when about 200-odd people armed with guns and crude implements attacked the camp and started hitting the security personnel. Four troopers were injured, while about 20 others present at the camp were literally taken hostage by the group,” a senior police official said.
Police suspect the group could be from the newly floated Hmar tribal rebel group active in the border area, although not much was known about the outfit.
“The group did not use firearms, but attacked the IRB troopers with crude weapons like sticks and machetes. Later, they looted the service weapons of the troopers numbering about 20 rifles,” the official said.
The injured IRB troopers were shifted to the Silchar Medical College Hospital with multiple injuries.
“The group left the camp after decamping with the weapons,” the official said.
A massive hunt is now on by police, army and paramilitary troopers to nab the group and get the weapons back.