Shillong tense, Mawkhar under curfew

New round of stone pelting

A correspondent

Shillong, June 3: A fresh battle started on Sunday around 7 pm between police and stone pelters. Police had to resort to several rounds of tear gas shelling to control the unruly mob who emerged at the Mawkhar area of Shillong. The area is under curfew. The situation, however, is tense and under control and security has been beefed up.

After three days of continuous stand-off between police and protestors, the situation at Motphran area of the city had improved on Sunday morning. On Saturday night, the East Khasi Hills district administration decided to relax day curfew for seven hours. Curfew in localities under Lumdiengjri police station was relaxed from 8 am to 3 pm on Sunday.

However, internet on mobile services are still being suspended. The district administration has also prohibited the sale of petrol, diesel, etc in loose containers and bottles to public by all the petrol pumps within the district.

The district administration has also appealed to the people not to trust false reports propagated in social media like attacks on gurdwara in the city. Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon Delhi MLA and general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjinder Singh Sirsa visited Shillong following the clashes in Motphran and rumours of attacks on the Sikh community.

Sirsa, after assessing the situation, has asked people not to believe in rumours as the Sikh people in the city are safe. Refuting all rumours in this regard, Sirsa tweeted: “Sharing about Shillong situation. Requesting people not to worry or believe in rumours. Sikhs are safe.” “We were all worried about the safety of Sikhs in Meghalaya I see all here from ground zero to tell that there is no violence on the situation,” he added. The Delhi MLA also met Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma at the State secretariat. Sirsa also thanked Conrad for taking concrete actions in time.