SHILLONG: The escort vehicle of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) director came under a petrol bomb attack on Wednesday evening in Shillong.
The incident unfolded around 7:25 pm at Demthring Block-2 under Madanrting Police Station when the vehicle was escorting retired director Major General Rajesh Kumar Jha to his residence at Laitkor.
Reports from the police indicate that the assailants hurled the petrol bomb amidst a traffic jam, but fortunately, no damage was reported.
According to a Shillong-based news portal, the authorities, however, have downplayed the severity of the incident, describing it as an act where “some miscreants threw a burning cloth on one vehicle”.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered with the Madanrting police station.
The timing of the attack is noteworthy, occurring just hours after two additional arrested members of the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) – Cleanstar Shabong (27) and Gary Mawlieh (25) – were presented in court by the Meghalaya police in connection with the Ichamati and Mawlai Mawroh murders.
The court granted a seven-day police remand for further questioning of Shabong and a twelve-day remand for Gary.
Interestingly, a similar incident had occurred in Mawlai on April 3, where unidentified assailants launched a petrol bomb at a parked police vehicle inside Mawlai Police station, following the arrest of two KSU members in connection with a double-murder case in Ichamati on March 27.
The two KSU members – Shamborlang Shati and Mesadapbor Skhembil, both aged 26 – were apprehended from their residences in Sohra (Cherrapunji).
With Shabong and Gary’s arrest on Tuesday, the number of arrests made in the Ichamati double murder case rises to three.
The recent surge in violence targeting non-tribals in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district has sparked widespread outrage and calls for swift action from various organisations.
