Meghalaya Government’s move to thwart 12-hour closure by militants comes to naught
TURA: Attempts by the Meghalaya Government to ensure offices remained open and employees attended to work fell on deaf ears with government workers preferring the safety of their homes rather than to venture out and challenge the diktats of a militant group which had called for a total shutdown of the five Garo Hills districts on Thursday.
There were no untoward incidents reported from any part of the region during the bandh.
The dawn-to-dusk all-Garo Hills bandh call given by ANVC-B to demand central intervention into the law and order situation in the State was almost near total in all the five districts barring a few pockets in the plain belt region of West Garo Hills district.
The district administration had on Wednesday given public announcements allegedly warning of stern action against absentees in government offices and pressed into service the government run public transport service to ferry the workers on Thursday morning.
There were little or no takers to the government warning with almost all buses returned empty after passing through empty locality streets in Tura, Williamnagar and other towns of Garo Hills. Fear of retribution at the hands of militants for violating their diktats appeared to be the priority for not just government employees but the general public as well with even business establishments remaining under lock and key.
The ANVC-B, which called the 5 am to 5 pm bandh in Garo Hills has accused the State Police of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its cadres most notably the recent murder of three of its cadres at Oragitok village, on the foothills of Nokrek National Park, which has been blamed on local cops of West Garo Hills district, something police have strongly denied.