Footage shows Garo militants thrashing locals

Fifteen people were mercilessly thrashed on camera by tribal militants in Meghalaya under the accusation that the victims were police informers.

The brutal assault by the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) was believed to have been carried out on September 4 in the state's East Garo Hills.

The militants filmed the incident on a mobile phone, which was recovered by the police from a slain militant Bestfield K Marak. He was gunned down during an encounter on Sunday. The police released the chilling video on Friday.

In the footage, the militants were seen thrashing locals in a field with sticks and canes until they lost consciousness. Each of them was thrashed by four to five militants at a time.

"They took the footage set an example.But, we never use innocent villagers as informers," a senior police officer told dna.

The incident has come to light months after the outfit blew off a woman's head in Garo Hills under the same accusation.

The GNLA has virtually held Garo Hills to ransom by unleashing a reign of terror. It was involved in a number of cases of killings, abductions, extortions, bomb blasts etc in recent months. Formed in 2009, the outfit is fighting for a "sovereign Garoland".