Shillong, June 16 (IANS): A top leader of a Meghalaya-based rebel group was arrested in Bangalore Monday, a police official said.
"Rapiush Ch. Sangma, the vice-chairman of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), was arrested by Bangalore police based on intelligence inputs provided by us," Meghalaya's Director General of Police Peter Hanaman told IANS.
Sangma was arrested while he went to drop his child at a private school in the Karnataka capital.
"We have been tracking his (Sangma) movements for quite some time and finally we caught him in Bangalore. It is a prize catch for us in our operation against the GNLA," Hanaman said, adding police have recovered cell phones and laptops from his possession.
"Sangma's interrogation is on and we are following on his leads," Hanaman said.
Sangma, a former Samajwadi Party leader, joined the outlawed GNLA in April last year after unsuccessfully contesting the Meghalaya assembly elections from Rongjeng constituency under East Garo Hills district.
The GNLA, one of the five Garo tribal rebel groups, is fighting for a separate Garoland to be carved out of Meghalaya.
GNLA rebels, who number around 100, unleashed terror in five impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the last five years and killed over 100 people, including security personnel.