From Our Correspondent
JOWAI: Tension has once again gripped Khanduli – a village on the Meghalaya-Assam border in West Jaintia Hills district – on Saturday when a group of people numbering around 200 came and forcibly erected seven electric posts in the area.
Soon after the incident hundreds of residents of Khanduli village rushed to the spot and uprooted all the electric posts, sources informed on Sunday.
“At around 9 am about 200 people from Karbi Anglong district of Assam came to Khanduli and erected seven electric posts in the area but residents from Khanduli village uprooted all the electric posts,” sources said.
Later, at around 4 pm, a youth identified as Do Suting (18) was allegedly assaulted and he was rushed to Jowai Civil Hospital. Again at around 6pm, a group of people from Karbi Anglong detained and damaged a vehicle while the driver escaped unhurt. Sources informed that the vehicle (Tata Mobile) was coming from Pongbong and on reaching the Umrangi bridge a group of people stopped the vehicle and damaged it with stones, machetes and other lethal weapons. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled to a nearly jungle.
The vehicle was brought to Khanduli by a team of Police led by the Deputy SP who rushed to Khanduli on hearing of the incident.
Meanwhile, in another incident on Sunday evening, five huts used as farm house by farmers from Khanduli village located at Umpawiang area under Karbi Anglong district was allegedly set ablaze, sources informed.
It may be mentioned that last month, Assam State Electricity Board officials along with construction labourers and a Magistrate escorted by hundreds of fully-armed Assam Battalion personnel came to Khanduli village and erected many electric posts despite strong protest by the local villagers of Meghalaya.
