Three more cadres of the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) were arrested along with explosives on February 2 even as chief minister Conrad Sangma assured that the government will not spare whoever tries to spread terror in Meghalaya.
After chairing a cabinet meeting to review the law and order situation in the state, Sangma told reporters that all people involved in the Khyndailad IED blast (in Shillong on January 30) have been arrested.
“All the people who were directly involved in the incident have been arrested including the people from whom the dynamite sticks were procured, including the people who placed it, including the people who have made it,” he said.
Stating that investigation is ongoing, Sangma said: “We will be going into the networks even further and going into all the people who were in touch with them to make sure we dig into this deep and get hold of the people who could possibly have been a part of this or have assisted.”
Earlier, a juvenile, who identified himself as the area commander for Shillong region of the HNLC, was held hours after the IED blast on January 30 evening. HNLC had also claimed responsibility for the blast.
The chief minister said the arrested people are mainly supporters and sympathizers of the banned outfit.
“Of course the actual linkage and how much they have been involved in communication and the organization is still a matter of investigation so we are looking into those aspects as well,” he said.
East Khasi Hills superintendent of police Sylvester Nongtnger said based on the information received from a reliable source, 3 more HNLC cadres were arrested from Shillong and during the house search, some explosive items were recovered and seized accordingly.
Earlier, the chief minister said that the installation of CCTVs in strategic locations has to a great extent helped the police investigation to nab the culprits.
“We have CCTV footage on all the three of them,” he said. Sangma however said that police are still investigating to find out the next target, if any, following the recovery of live IED from the residence of the first accused.
