The state government has been left struggling to contain a series of petrol bomb attacks in the city and is in danger of appearing incapable of maintaining law and order.
Three more petrol bombs were hurled in different parts of the city overnight on Tuesday-Wednesday, including two that targeted police stations.
In an attempt to keep the public calm, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong today said that the law and order situation is far from dire.
“There are incidents of petrol bomb (attacks) happening but, at the same time, from the police side we are on the job and will make sure that people are fully safe and secure,” he told reporters.
Tynsong, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, also stated that the government will not allow anybody to take the law into their own hands even as he said that he has clearly instructed the Director General of Police and Superintendents of Police to make sure that such things do not recur.
After the latest attacks overnight on the office of the Meghalaya Government Construction Company Ltd, Sadar police station and Rynjah police station, Tynsong informed that he has instructed the DGP to be on the ground and make sure such incidents do not happen again.
The Deputy CM was asked whether there was any link to the rise in petrol bomb attacks with the arrests of Khasi Students Union (KSU) members. Five members have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in three murders of non-tribal workers in recent months. The pressure group had warned the government that further arrests of its members (which it describes as harassment of innocent activists) would lead to law and order problems.
Tynsong, however, said that he does not believe that the petrol bomb attacks happened because of the arrest of KSU members.
