GUWAHATI: A group of 20 boys assaulted five boys in a basketball court at Lawsohtun Block VI on 3rd July.
The injured boys include Arindam Das (22) of Laban, Subharshi Das Purkayastha (22) and Saptarshi Das (20) of Last Stop, Pinak Deb (23) of Barapathar and Vishal Ghosh (24) of Lachumiere.
Police said the incident occurred at 12:30 pm when the four boys had gone to play basketball in the area.
"They have been coming to the ground since the last two weeks. Today some boys numbering around 20 came to the ground and assaulted them with iron rods, sticks and bamboos," Assistant Inspector General of Police, GK Ïangrai said.
The injured boys were taken to Woodland Hospital and were discharged after medical treatment.
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An FIR was also filed by parents of three boys.
Noted journalist of Meghalaya and editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim took to her Facebook page to directly address the chief minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma, and register her protest against the incident. Her Facebook post reads:
Conrad Sangma CM Meghalaya, what happened yesterday at Lawsohtun where some non-tribal youth playing Basketball were assaulted with lethal weapons and are now in hospital, is unacceptable in a state with a Government and a functional police force.The attackers, allegedly tribal boys with masks on and should be immediately booked. This continued attack on non-tribals in Meghalaya whose ancestors have lived here for decades, some having come here since the British period is reprehensible to say the least. The fact that such attackers and trouble mongers since 1979 have never been arrested and if arrested never penalised according to law suggests that Meghalaya has been a failed state for a long time now.
We request your Government and the police force under the present DGP, R Chandranathan, to take this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Show us the public that we have a police force we can look up to.
And what about the Dorbar Shnong of the area? Don't they have their eyes and ears to the ground?Don't they know the criminal elements in their jurisdiction? Should they not lead the charge and identify those murderous elements? This is the time to rise above community interests, caste and creed and call out for justice.
We hope that this will not be yet another case lost in the police files. We want action. Criminal elements have no community. They must be dealt with as per the law of the land.
Why should our non-tribal brethren continue to live in perpetual fear in their own state? Those born and brought up here have as much right to call Meghalaya their state as the indigenous tribal does. Period.
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