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Petrol bombs hit Shillong DMR office, torch official's car
Petrol bombs were hurled at the DMR office in Shillong, damaging an employee's car. The attack has intensified security concerns after a similar strike on a police station days earlier.
Petrol bombs were hurled at the Directorate of Mineral Resources (DMR) office in Shillong on Wednesday afternoon, damaging a car parked on the premises, police said. Employees were inside the office when the incident took place at around 3.32 pm.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma later visited the office with the chief secretary and other senior officials to review the situation. He assured assistance for the damaged vehicle and stressed the need for more CCTV cameras at the DMR office and other government establishments, officials said.
DMR Director MB Tongper said one of the incendiary bombs hit a car belonging to a DMR official, setting it on fire. “I was in my room attending a meeting when I heard a loud sound. Initially, I thought the car had hit something, but when we looked carefully, we saw flames. The car had caught fire from the front,” Tongper said.
He said the employee who owned the car was outside the office at the time and the fire was put out within four to five minutes. Referring to the chief minister’s assurance, Tongper said, “He said that since the car belongs to an employee and is a private vehicle, the government will provide assistance compensation.”
Police said two FIRs were registered at Laitumkhrah police station — one on the complaint of the DMR director and the other on the complaint of the employee whose vehicle was damaged. Tongper said this was the first such incident at the office. “We do not know who did this. We do not know the reason behind it. We have informed the police, and an investigation is underway,” he said.
The incident came four days after two unidentified persons hurled two petrol bombs at Laban police station in Shillong. In that attack, two police personnel narrowly escaped and a police vehicle parked inside the premises was partially damaged. Police said the attack was captured on CCTV and the case is being investigated.
Wednesday’s attack at the DMR office left a private vehicle damaged, prompted a visit by the chief minister, and led to two police complaints, with investigators now looking into who was behind it and why it happened.