SHILLONG, May 5 – With the surrender of 11 more Hynniewtrep National Volunteer Council (HNLC) militants at a BSF camp near the Mizoram-Bangladesh border last week, the number of ultras belonging to the outlawed outfit has gone up to 56. Meghalaya Police are yet unaware of the details of the surrender though they confirmed the event. The ultras were escorted to Jowai in Jaintia Hills district in the state yesterday.
One self-loading rifles (SLR) and some ammunition were given up by the extremists during the surrender, police said. According to preliminary accounts of the surrender, the 11 ultras fled the main training camp of the HNLC in the Chittagong Hill Tracts before surrendering at the BSF post on the Mizoram border.
The ultras reportedly told their BSF interrogators that they were forced to flee the camp following differences with the leaders. They also confided that they were dejected with the hard camp life they were leading while the top leadership was enjoying a luxurious life-style.
The surrendered militants alleged that the leaders were resorting to executing dissenters. Till date more than 40 members of the outfit had been killed for defying the leaders, the ultras told the police while justifying their surrender.