Arrests made for attack on CMO based on evidence, says Conrad Sangma

SHILLONG – Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said arrests made by police for the mob attack on his office in the Western Meghalaya town of Tura earlier this week were strictly based on evidence.

At least 46 people, including seven women, have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Chief Minister's Office in Tura.

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"I want to make this very clear those arrested were purely based on evidence. What had happened was not correct. I had gone there with a positive intention and had never agreed to go there to their location, but thinking of how it would be wrongly misconstrued and thinking that if it helped the cause, I decided to go there to talk to them and find a way forward," the CM stated.

Denying to put a political tag on the arrested persons, the CM said everything was based on evidence.

"Those sloganeering happened to be from political parties. We are not going by political parties and everything will be based on evidence. If a person, based on proof, was involved in inciting, action will be taken against the individual," he said.

The CM said that he had instructed the police to use minimum force to control the crowd and without excessive force or fatal weapons.

Those arrested include Opposition TMC leaders, BJP leaders and activists, police said.

"We have arrested 46 persons in all. Some are candidates who contested elections, some are members of political parties while some are activists," a senior police officer told PTI.

He said investigation is going on and hunt is for a few others involved in damaging public and private properties including official vehicles of the Chief Minister's convoy.

Four vehicles were set on fire while 17 others were damaged in the vandalism.

Director General of Police LR Bishnoi had said that intelligence inputs indicated that the mob planned to murder the chief minister.

"They provoked the crowd to cause physical harm of the chief minister and even they insisted that they go for the extreme steps like murder, etc. These kinds of actions of the violent youth indicated that it was pre-planned and a conspiracy to cause physical harm to the chief minister," Bishnoi had stated.

The attack on the Chief Minister's office took place on Monday when Sangma was meeting leaders of the social organisations who were demanding the government to make Tura the Winter capital of the state.

Meanwhile, TMC leader Richard Marak, a close aide of former chief minister Mukul Sangma, who was arrested for the attack on the CMO in Tura, has been admitted at the Tura Civil Hospital after he complained of sickness.

Richard was under police custody for three days after his arrest on Tuesday. He complained of sickness following which he was taken to the hospital and was hospitalised.

Meanwhile, TMC leader and former chief minister Mukul Sangma accused the Meghalaya police of acting at the behest of the political bosses in the government.

"We are demanding an independent inquiry into this allegation and what led to the arrest of Richard Mrong Marak. Who did it? Why was it done? Who directed it? All these things will come out only when there's an independent inquiry," he said.

He also said the independent inquiry should be monitored by none other than the High Court.