SHILLONG: The gunning down of Hamren superintendent of police Nityananda Goswami and his body guard by Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) militants late on Thursday night has made Khasi villagers living in areas bordering Meghalaya and Assam jittery.
For Meghalaya villagers living near the Assam border have been facing extortion threats from KPLT militants. The killing of a police superintendent in a place in Assam not far from the Meghalaya border could have been designed to spread panic among these villages, it was believed.
In fact, the question of threat posed by KPLT militants to villages in Meghalaya was discussed in a meeting between senior officials of Meghalaya and Assam in Dispur on May 30. Meghalaya officials had raised the issue of recent extortion attempts by KPLT militants at Umtlih village, Ri Bhoi district, and the threat to the life of the headman.
It was decided at the meeting that police personnel of the two states would carry out joint patrolling with immediate effect to prevent the activities of the KPLT militants.
Goswami was killed when he was carrying out an operation in a remote area in Karbi Anglong bordering the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.
When contacted, Ri Bhoi police chief CVS Reddy said that police is keeping a close vigil on Meghalaya side of the border to ensure that militants do not create any problem to the people.