Govt offices, vehicle torched in Ri-Bhoi

NONGPOH: Following the arrest of KSU president Daniel Khyriem on Thursday, cases of arson continue to be reported in the State with miscreants hurling petrol bombs on two government offices and torching a government vehicle in two separate incidents in Ri-Bhoi District in the wee hours of Friday.
In the first incident, miscreants torched a government registered vehicle (ML 01 5316) parked in the garage of the District Sericulture Officer, Nongpoh at around 1:15 am on Friday. As the fire spread, the manager’s office adjacent to the garage was also partially damaged.
Fire tenders from the Nongpoh Fire Station rushed to the spot and doused the flames but the vehicle and the garage were gutted.
In the second case of arson reported from Umling in the same district at around 4 am, unknown miscreants hurled a petrol bomb on the office of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department. A computer set, files and furniture were fully gutted while the   office itself sustained partial damage.
In other cases of arson reported in the district on Friday, unknown miscreants barged into the campus of the Horticulture farm at Dewlieh, Umsning and set on fire two pesticide machines and strawberry plantations covered with plastic at around 9:30 pm.
Ri-Bhoi Superintendent of Police, Goldenbert D Kharwanlang, informed that an alert has been sounded in the district soon after the arrest of the KSU chief, but miscreants reacted promptly to the arrest and resorted to damaging government property.
He informed that police complaints have been lodged by the departments concerned and police had begun action to trace the miscreants involved in the arson cases.
Meanwhile, in the capital city, unknown miscreants pelted stones at the house of one S. Chettri near Holy Cross School, Nongmynsong at around 11 pm on Thursday.