Cops fire at 3 civilians in North Garo Hills

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya government on Tuesday said it will institute a judicial inquiry into Monday night's police firing resulting in the injury of three civilians at Resubelpara - the district headquarters of North Garo Hills.
The victims have been admitted to a private hospital in Guwahati.
The incident took place at Resu-Khaldang where police were carrying out a 'naka' checking of vehicles after receiving inputs on the movement of militants in the area.However, one of the vehicles did not stop and tried to speed away prompting police to open fire. Later, it was found that all of them were civilians and not militants.
The incident has led to violent attacks by a mob which burnt down two police LMVs at a health centre and also a mini-truck. The mob overpowered police and ransacked two barracks on the Resubelpara police station premises. "We will conduct a judicial inquiry. Apart from the support system provided to the injured, the compensation policy will also be implemented accordingly," chief minister Mukul Sangma told the assembly on Tuesday.
Mukul's assuramce came after veteran Congress legislator Salseng C Marak demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter while participating in a discussion on the incident after a suo-moto statement was made by home minister HDR Lyngdoh. Expressing concern over the incident, Marak, who is also a representative from the Resubelpara assembly constituency, sought necessary financial assistance to the victims. "It is really a sad incident and I was very disturbed after getting the information (late last night). I am thinking of going to Resubelpara to see whether normalcy has returned," he said.
Earlier, home minister Lyngdoh had assured of a magisterial enquiry into the incident. However, National People's Party legislators James K Sangma and Nihim D Shira demanded that a judicial inquiry be ordered and the erring police personnel be brought to justice.
"I strongly support Salseng as we don't need a magisterial inquiry because this is an instance of firing by trigger-happy policemen... How can police fire on civilians when the latter did not initiate firing? asked James.