Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today asserted that a huge police exercise is on to nab everyone involved in the recent improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the city.
The explosion on Saturday evening injured one person and caused minor damage at Them Ïew Mawlong here. The Sweepers’ Colony is protected by police after the 2018 riot but despite the heavy presence of the law, the person who planted the device was still able to do so without being stopped.
This is the third such IED attack in Shillong since 2021, with others occurring in the same period in other parts of the state, which has left the police somewhat red-faced.
A “large number” of people have been arrested in connection with the incident, Sangma said today. “I’m monitoring the situation very closely. We are doing a lot of work. I cannot share all the details with you right now but there’s a huge exercise that the police are conducting and they are successful.”
The attack came just weeks after the banned Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) ended its peace talks with the state and central governments over the failure to meet certain of the rebels’ demands. It is strongly suspected that the HNLC was behind this attack but the Chief Minister could not give a categorical answer one way or the other.
“We will ensure that those individuals who are trying to create these kinds of problems will be caught and action taken against them,” the CM added.