From Our Correspondent
TURA: A tense situation prevailed in the plains belt region of Garo Hills following the handing over of the body of the victim who was killed in a mob attack in Tura on Friday last.
The remains of Akbar Ali, also known as Munshi, was handed over to his family in Teldala village of Assam’s Mankachar region on Sunday afternoon by government officials including the Ampati Deputy Commissioner, senior magistrates and top police officials.
A sum of three lakh rupees was also handed over to the family of the deceased by authorities from Garo Hills.
Teldala falls on the Assam side of the border with Garo Hills and is around 42 kms from Tura. A Garo village called Chandanpara lies close to Teldala.
As many as two hundred people gathered at the home of the deceased to receive the body which was later laid to rest in accordance with Islamic traditions.
As news spread about the arrival of the body the crowd in the village reportedly swelled and a tense situation began to build up in the area. Fearing a possible outbreak of violence some male members from the neighbouring Garo village of Chandanpara shifted out their families, including children and womenfolk, to the interior tribal villages as precautionary measure against a backlash.
Hearing these developments, district magistrates from South West Garo Hills district led by Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh rushed to the area to take stock of the situation.
“We met the village elders and reassured them. We also have magistrates camping in the area with sufficient number of security forces,” said Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh told The Shillong Times.
One platoon of CRPF has been deployed from the Assam side while Meghalaya has posted a platoon of the BSF in the same area to ensure foolproof security for the people of the area.
“There was apprehension from some villagers about the situation but that has been cleared and several peace meetings between the two communities are going to take place tomorrow,” said Singh on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, round the clock patrolling is taking place in the sensitive areas of the plains belt region, particularly Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Phulbari, Tikrikilla and Hallidayganj.
Night curfew also remains in place throughout the West Garo Hills district.