Tura, May 5: A 45-year-old trader was shot dead by alleged Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militants after he refused to accompany them into the jungle during a kidnapping attempt at Chokpot region in Garo hills of Meghalaya this morning.

In another incident, a gang of 12-15 criminals raped a teenaged girl and robbed a house in the Garobadha area of West Garo Hills today.

In Chokpot, which is approximately 53km from Tura, four gun-toting, masked men woke up the victim, Satyander Prasad, around 2.45am and asked him to accompany them into the jungle. When he refused, they shot him, police said.

Prasad used to run a convenience store in the militancy-ravaged Chokpot region of South Garo Hills.

The incident took place just metres away from a police station.

“Initially we thought the police station was under attack because when the firing began there was a heavy thunderstorm and power had been cut,” said district police chief Davis Nestell R. Marak.

The police realised what was going on only after the trader’s teenaged son came to the station to file a report.

The Chokpot region and most parts of South Garo Hills have very poor roads and telecommunication connectivity.

Garo hills police suspect that the GNLA’s newly appointed area commander, Pangkam, who has replaced Hebil, another dreaded commander, carried out the murder.

Hebil was caught about a month ago from the Kherapara region. He was returning after carrying out a grenade attack on a wine store in Dalu.

In Garobadha, the gang, armed with daggers and country-made firearms, crossed over from Assam and reached Boldamgre village under Garobadha police outpost, 31km from the district headquarters of Tura.

Around 2am, the criminals entered the sleepy hamlet, which is about 12km from the police outpost at Garobadha.

The gang first attacked the teenaged girl who had ventured out of her house with a torch to inspect her compound after hearing the dogs bark.

According to the police, the criminals gagged her and one of them raped her.

The gang then targeted the home of Gajang Sangma. They broke in, assaulted the family and decamped with Rs 7,000 in cash and a double-barrelled shotgun.

“We have got some clues and identified some of the perpetrators of the crime. We are initiating action,” said Mukesh Kumar Singh, district police chief of West Garo Hills, after returning from the scene of the crime.

Sub-inspector Jiban Sarkar, who is the officer in-charge of Garobadha police outpost, has been transferred.