A CORRESPONDENT
BOKO: Tension has gripped the Assam-Meghalaya border area following the burning of a private vehicle belonging to an Assam Police jawan at Upper Lampi under Boko in Kamrup district late on Tuesday night.
The Hyundai Grand i10, bearing registration number AS01GH7347, was found completely gutted by fire beside the Upper Lampi-Boko road. According to a press release issued by Assam Police, the vehicle belonged to a jawan posted at the Upper Lampi Border Patrol Post.
The vehicle's owner, Havildar Aravinda Roy of the 28th Assam Police Battalion, had reportedly parked it around 200 metres away from the patrol post as the vehicle could not be taken up to the post. The incident came to light early on Wednesday morning when locals and personnel on duty at the patrol post noticed the burnt vehicle, triggering panic in the area.
Although the exact cause of the fire has not yet been established, locals have alleged that Khasi miscreants could be behind the incident. Police, however, are investigating the matter and no one has so far been officially held responsible for the arson.
The incident comes amid heightened tension along the Assam-Meghalaya border following clashes in Shillong on August 19 involving members of the Khasi Students' Union. Seeking justice, Havildar Roy has lodged an FIR at the Lampi police outpost.
Meanwhile, Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council Executive Member Arjun Chetry, whose Jongakhuli constituency includes the greater Lampi area, strongly reacted to the incident. Chetry said that the August 19 violence in Shillong and the subsequent arrest of the president, general secretary, and vice-president of the Khasi Students' Union by Meghalaya Police raised serious questions about the nature of the organisation.
Chetry said that the Khasi Students' Union should no longer be treated merely as a student organisation and appealed to the Government of India to declare it a banned organisation.
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