Meghalaya on High Alert After Double Murder Following Anti-CAA Demonstrations

Meghalaya’s Khasi and Jaintia hills remain on high alert following the apprehension of two student union members on Wednesday, after the deaths of two individuals in the state last week.

Shanborlang Shati and Mesadapbor Skhembil, affiliated with the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), were detained by authorities in connection to the killings of two men in Ichamati last week, which occurred after a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Both individuals were presented before the court and remanded to seven days of police custody.

The bodies of Ishan Singh and Sujit Dutta were discovered near the Bangladesh border, approximately 80 km from Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong. Law enforcement is yet to ascertain if the murders are linked to the protest.

A gathering of around 300 individuals, led by the KSU, congregated at Sohra police station to voice their dissent against the arrests, demanding fair treatment for their members and objecting to what they perceive as a “militant hunt.”

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An incident of arson occurred when unidentified persons threw a petrol bomb at Shillong’s Malwai police station, as reported by Rituraj Ravi, the District police chief of East Khasi Hills. Ravi emphasized that the arrests were made based on substantial evidence. “They are protesting against the arrests made and we have explained that we are investigating the two murders and law shall take its course,” he stated.

Members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have addressed President Draupadi Murmu concerning the killings on March 27, alleging that the murders serve as a “blatant reminder of the reign of terror against the non-tribal communities residing in Meghalaya.”

The letter reads, “Two innocent Hindus (Ishan Singh & Sujit Dutta) have been brutally murdered in Ichamati, a village in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, after an anti-CAA rally. A pressure group organized an anti-CAA rally which led to the murder of two innocent Hindus by unknown miscreants, as widely reported in the media.”