Eight ultras from the militant outfit Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Garlosa) were arrested during a joint operation by police teams from the Meghalaya Police and the Assam Police on Tuesday. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the arrested militants.

A senior police official said that the arrested militants of the DHD (J), which is also known as the Black Widow group, included at least four senior leaders of the outfit. The identities of the rest of the ultras were still being ascertained. The militants were caught red handed while trying to strike an arms deal at a hotel near Shillong in Meghalaya.

The Meghalaya Police is currently interrogating the arrested ultras while a special team of the Assam Police is on its way to Shillong to bring the arrested ultras back to the state. The Black Widow militant outfit is based in the North Cachar Hill district of Assam.

The police said the arrested ultras included the mastermind behind the recent killings of former North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council Chief Executive member P Langthasa and former Executive Member N Langthasa.

The Black Widow group, which is against the truce between the Centre and its parent body DHD, has been terrorising the North Cachar Hill district of Assam through its rampant extortion operations and killings. The group, led by one Jewel Garlosa, is also alleged to have close links with the Naga rebel group NSCN-IM.

Shillong, located close to the Bangladesh border, has become a major centre for arms transaction by militant groups operating in Assam. Improved cooperation between the Meghalaya Police and the Assam Police has recently resulted in the arrest of several militant leaders including commander Pallab Saikia of the 27th battalion of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom