Alert police restore peace in Jowai

SHILLONG: The situation in Jowai was under control and there was no report of violence on Tuesday, a day after tension gripped the West Jaintia Hills town when a taxi driver was assaulted for not abiding by the ‘no smoking’ directive inside a mobile shop.
West Jaintia Hills SP Vivek Syiem said there was no untoward incident and the area is under police vigil. He added that people have been exhorted to report any incident before the police and nobody should be allowed to take law in their hands.
Jaintia Hills police were fast to act on Monday and arrested Dharmendra Kumar Shah of New Starlight Mobile Shop.
Shah (23) had asked driver Talbinus Dhar (24) not to smoke inside the shop but the latter ignored him. A scuffle took place in which Dhar sustained injuries. This led to mob fury who gathered in front of the
Jowai police station and shouted slogans against non-tribals. The district magistrate clamped Section 144 CrPC to stop the situation from spiraling out of control.