SHILLONG, Jan 30: A blast stirred central Shillong out of relative calm on Sunday evening.
No casualty was reported as the shops around the spot – opposite a liquor store adjacent to Delhi Mistan Bhandar at Khyndai Lad – and there were hardly any people around.
The suspects have been identified, Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said on Twitter.
“Today at around 6:30 pm an IED blast was triggered at Police Bazaar. Suspect has been identified and investigation is on and I am sure that the police will be able to nab all the people involved. Strongly condemn this act and assure that peace will be maintained at all cost,” Rymbui tweeted.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Sylvester Nongtnger said, “Right now, it is difficult to say whether it is an IED (improvised explosive device) blast or not as the bomb squad is still on the job. But there has been a blast.”
He said the bomb squad was analysing the intensity of the blast. “Nobody was injured and there was not much damage,” he added.
A policeman said gelatine and wires were found at the spot, indicating a crude explosive device.
A few people who had passed by the spot 10 minutes before the explosion said they were shaken by the sound. “We panicked when we saw police rushing toward the spot,” Samrat, one of the passers-by said.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma strongly condemned the blast.
“This cowardly act is an attempt to disrupt peace and bring harm. Perpetrators will not be spared and we will ensure peace prevails in the state,” he said.
Congress Legislature Party leader, Ampareen Lyngdoh asked the government to get to the bottom of the blast. “No matter what the agenda is, trying to instil fear in an otherwise COVID-struck community is unfair and unwarranted,” she said.
The chief whip of All India Trinamool Congress, George B. Lyngdoh said: “The low-intensity blast in the heart of Meghalaya is another strike at peace in the state.”
He criticised the state government for repeatedly being caught napping and failing to protect the people.
Rev Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh also condemned the blast. “The IED blast at Khyndai Lad this evening is plain terror and is capable to maim people or rather kill them. Now it will certainly paralyze the economy and disrupt the life of the people, especially the commoner and sadly when we are yet to recover from the continuous disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. You have failed us Mr Home Minister. People let us fight back and let not terror destroy our lives and being,” Rev Pyrtuh said.
Assistant Rangbah Shnong of Mawkhar, Ransom Sutnga has strongly condemned the blast.
“It is an attempt to disrupt peace and is surely a cowardly act. Perpetrators should not be spared and must be brought to book. Let peace prevail in the state,” Sutnga said.
This is the third blast to have rocked the state in the last six months. An IED blast rocked the police campus at Khliehriat in East Jaintia Hills on July 14, injuring a policeman. This was followed by a blast at Shillong’s Laitumkhrah Market on August 10.
The proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council had claimed responsibility for both the blasts.
On October 4, the outfit had also planted a crude bomb outside the Lachaumiere office of the National People’s Party here. The unexploded bomb was recovered hours after Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu landed in the city on a two-day visit.