SHILLONG: The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has claimed responsibility of Thursday’s blast at Jhalupara in city even as the city police suspect at to be an IED blast.
Vivek Syiem, SP (City) on Friday said that evidences recovered from the place of occurrence were sent to forensic experts for examination.
He also said that police were on the job though it will be premature to say anything on who was behind the incident.
Sources, however, said that those who used the IED apparently chose the time when people were engaging in bursting crackers on Thursday.
This is for the first time in the recent times that a blast of this nature occurred in the capital city.
The “mysterious’ blast occurred at a bush near the Jeevan Ram Goenka Memorial Hospital at Jhalupara at around 10.30 pm created a crater at the blast site and partially damaged two vehicles and a road roller parked nearby.
The blast was so powerful that it created holes on the road roller. However, no one was injured in the incident. The residents felt the impact of the blast from far and it also shook the buildings.
Police sources said that the bomb squad of Shilong police is on the job to ascertain how the IED was triggered.
“We cannot just make any comment on it as the investigations are on. Anyone can make claims but we cannot accept anyone claims just like that. Let us wait for the investigation,” a senior police official said.
Police sources informed that while HNLC claimed responsibility through Facebook, only after a thorough investigation, police can zero in on the culprits
On the other hand, the HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw claimed that the intention of planting ‘RDX’ in a location like Jhalupara at late night was to avoid human casualties. “We purposely planted the RDX in such a location at late night hours in order to avoid human casualties. Our objective was to make the people realise that if we had planted the RDX at Khyndailad (downtown Shillong) during working hours, human casualties would have been far more than expected,” Nongtraw said in statement.
The outfit said the blast was a warning to Nepalese and other non-tribals of Shillong trying to interfere in the affairs of Hynniewtrep.
“We are not against any community nor religion. We respect all as human beings but they should not take it for granted. Many of our local people have been assaulted by Nepali at Langpih and elsewhere,” Nongtraw said.
Stating that the non-tribals in Shillong are trying to manipulate all the business thereby engaging in black marketing and rising prices of essential commodities, the HNLC warned non-tribals businessmen of areas like Laban, Laitumkhrah and Rynjah (Refugee colony.
The HNLC also expressed concern over the apathy on the part of the Government in holding peace talks.
The HNLC also criticized police department for ‘showing its strength’ by suppressing the recent public rally of headmen in Shillong and also for caning the students of Kiang Nangbah College in Jaintia Hills.
Meanwhile, the state BJP has condemned the blast and wanted the police to arrest the culprits at the earliest to instill confidence in the minds of the people.
