Unidentified miscreants lobbed a petrol bomb on Sunday night at the residence of Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma, soon after state home minister Lahkmen Rymbui resigned amid violence in Shillong over the police shooting of a former militant.
Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, a self-styled general secretary of the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council who surrendered in 2018, was shot dead on August 13 when he allegedly tried to attack a police team with a knife during a raid at his house in connection with a series of IED blasts in the state. Police said they have evidence that Thangkhiew masterminded the blasts after his surrender.
The killing sparked vandalism and arson in the state capital, prompting the Meghalaya government to impose a curfew in Shillong and ban mobile internet services in at least four districts. Hours later vehicle-borne attackers lobbed two Molotov cocktail bottles at the premises of Sangma’s personal residence at Third Mile in Upper Shillong, police said.
The first bottle was lobbed at the front portion of the house while the second was thrown behind the backyard, he said, prompting the guards there to douse the fire immediately. No one was injured in the incident, according to a senior district police officer.
Rymbui, who sent his resignation via a letter to the CM, urged Sangma to institute a judicial inquiry into Thangkhiew’s shooting. Rymbui said his United Democratic Party also backed the decision to step down.
