A person hailing from Block II along the Meghalaya-Assam boundary succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday after he was allegedly assaulted.
A report appearing in the The Telegraph quoted Meghalaya Police as saying that one Romesh Thapa of Umsohphoh, Madan Umwang, assaulted Tyngshain Mukhim at Umsohphoh around 10 pm on Sunday. The area falls under Block II of the inter-State boundary along Ri Bhoi-West Karbi Anglong sector and is one of the 12 areas of dispute between Assam and Meghalaya.
The report further quoted the police as saying, “The victim sustained grievous injuries and was shifted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong. Later, his relatives took him back to Khlieh Umwang. He succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.”
An official from Ri Bhoi district said the administration had been in touch with its West Karbi Anglong counterparts in Assam. “We were informed that a murder case in relation to the incident had been registered and the alleged culprit was arrested by Assam Police,” the official said.
Earlier, there were reports that the victim’s family did not allow Assam Police to take the body for postmortem. A team of Meghalaya Police from Mawlasnai outpost was sent to the area to prevent any kind of untoward incident, sources said.
“Everyone is on high alert and doing their job,” the official from Ri Bhoi said, when asked whether there was any tension. The official said Meghalaya Police had registered a case in connection with the incident. He also informed that the victim’s family had agreed to take his body to Nongpoh, the district headquarters of Ri-Bhoi, to conduct the postmortem.