SHILLONG: The State Government has allayed fears of unrest in the border of West Jaintia Hills-Karbi Anglong stating that steps were taken by the concerned authorities to ensure normalcy in the area. A joint peace committee meeting was also held recently to ensure that all is well.
In reply to a call attention motion moved by Jemino Mawthoh (UDP) in Assembly on the atrocities unleashed by the Karbi People’s Liberation Tiger (KPLT) in West Jaintia Hills border adjacent to Karbi Anglong district coupled with the rumours of killing of four persons by the militant group in August, Home Minister Roshan Warjri in a written reply on Wednesday said that there were no such incidents of death of villagers.
The Minister, however, said that while the body of a person identified as Babu Hamkar, a Karbi was found by five Pnar fishermen on August 7 this year, one Pnar individual, Laborious Nongrum was killed by unknown Karbi people on August 14.
Later on August 26, two persons, Wom Shadap, secretary Shilliang-Mynriang village and another villager Lakhon Suchiang were arrested by police for possession of arms.
The villagers residing in the area had also claimed that they were served with demand notes by KPLT asking for Rs 1,000 from each household.
The Minister said that following reports in this regard, the SP of West Jaintia Hills had urged the Deputy Commissioner of Karbi Anglong and SP of Hamren to take steps to stop the illegal activities and to arrest the militants involved.
After the unrest continued, there was exodus of villagers, but all of them returned to their respective villages thanks to the intervention of the officials of both the districts.
The Home Minister said that the Chief Secretary was also in constant touch with his counterpart in Assam and the situation was brought back to normal quickly in the border districts.
“In view of the steps taken by the government, there should not be any cause for apprehensions. The government will continue to monitor the situation very closely at all levels,” the Home Minister added.
