In fresh violence in Meghalaya’s Shillong, police vehicles torched and 4 cops injured

Shillong: A police bus and a jeep were torched, and stones and petrol bombs were hurled at police in Shillong on Thursday evening after a candlelight vigil over the violence at the state’s border with Assam concluded, a senior officer said.

Seven people, including four police personnel, were injured as a clash broke out between the protesters and the police, Superintendent of Police (City) Vivek Syiem told PTI.

Petrol bombs were hurled at a police bus and jeep, setting them on fire, while a traffic police kiosk was brought down, and stones and petrol bombs were hurled at police at Barik point, barely metres from the place where a candlelight vigil and sit-in protest was held by different organisations, including the Khasi Students Union, and the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People, he said.

Police said they had to use tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. Those behind the violence were yet to be identified, police said.

From the candlelight vigil and the sit-in demonstration, the members of different organisations demanded that the Meghalaya government take action against those involved in Tuesday’s shooting that led to the killing of five villagers at Mukroh village along the Assam-Meghalaya border in West Jaintia Hills district. An Assam forest guard also died in the violence in the early hours of Tuesday.

Shops and business establishments run by non-tribals in Khyndailad, Iewduh and other areas in Shillong were closed early, apprehending violence.

Security in areas, identified as vulnerable, in the city was tightened, a senior district official told PTI.

The situation is tense but under control with leaders of different organisations appealing for peace, he said.

Different organisations in Meghalaya have announced a “non-cooperation movement” on Friday across the five hill districts. Mobile internet services were suspended in these districts till Saturday morning to prevent the spread of fake news that could foment trouble, Home Secretary CVD Diengdoh said.

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