Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday said the government is leaving no stone unturned to arrest all the perpetrators of the IED blast that rocked the State capital on Sunday.
Police have arrested a Class 12 student, who claimed himself to be the “Area Commander of Shillong Region” of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant outfit for exploding the IED bomb in front of an electronic store in Police Bazar. “I can assure everyone that we (government) will leave no stone unturned to ensure we get all those people involved in the blast are arrested for trying to create fear,” Sangma said.
The Chief Minister convened a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the prevailing threat scenario in the State following the IED blast on Sunday. Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, Chief Secretary Rebecca Suchiang, Special Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang and senior Home department official attended the meeting. Denying any “intelligence failure” in connection with Sunday’s blast, Sangma said.
“The police is doing its work and they have got a very strong intelligence and that is the reason why it did not take them even 12 hours to actually nab the people who were responsible because of the intelligence inputs that we had.” Voicing concern over the outlawed HNLC recruiting minors, the Chief Minister said, the government will ensure that all possible steps are taken to ward off minors from falling trap to join the militant outfit.
“The police are doing very aggressive works and they have moved very fast on this. I cannot share all the details with you right now as investigations are on and and we will find out the people who are responsible for this (recruiting minors to HNLC),” he said.
Moreover, the Chief Minister said the government has been focusing largely on creating jobs for youths through entrepreneurship.
“I want to give the confidence to our business traders and people that we will take action and we will ensure that those people who are trying to create fear will be brought to justice,” the Chief Minister said while reacting to HNLC’s veiled threat to city traders to satisfy extortion demands.
Sangma also accused the opposition Trinamool Congress of playing politics with the overall law and situation in the State.
“They are trying to play politics with the overall situation which is unfortunate… they should be constructively working with the government to find solutions to these issues,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the government has been “very firm and acted very tough on any situation which has challenged the peace in the state and will continue to do that.”
