Intelligence officer killed by militants in Meghalaya

New Delhi: Militants in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills have killed a young officer of the Intelligence Bureau, reports coming in from the northeastern state say.

As per official sources, the officer, identified as Bikash Singh, was kidnapped along with a cloth merchant when insurgents intercepted a Tata Sumo vehicle on Thursday.

Singh's body was found on Friday. He was a new recruit in the rank of an Inspector.

The fate of the cloth merchant, identified as Kamal Saha, is not known.

Sources said a new group called ASAC, a breakaway faction of ANVC, a known militant group in Meghalaya, was suspected to be behind the the kidnapping and killing of the IB officer.

The duo were kidnapped when they were travelling through a Reserve Forest near the international border in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills district.

The passenger vehicle was bound to the district headquarter when it was intercepted and the kidnapped duo were taken at gun point at the Reserve Forest at around 8:30 am yesterday, SP Lakador Syiem said.

The exact location where the incident took place was located between Amphangre and Phanda villages, he said.

(With PTI inputs)