After fresh violence, Centre rushes 1,000 paramilitary personnel to Shillong

The Centre has rushed 10 additional companies of paramilitary personnel to Shillong after fresh violence broke out there Sunday night. A top officer said police had to use tear gas to quell a mob.

Shillong has been on edge since Thursday following clashes between residents of the city's Punjabi Line area and Khasi drivers of state-run buses.

A four-member delegation sent by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to the state met Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma in Shillong. ANI reported Sangma as assuring the safety and security of the city's Punjabi Line residents.

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Top Union home ministry officials have also been in touch with Meghalaya government officials.

Sangma had earlier said the clashes are not communal.

"The problem is very much in a particular locality, on a particular issue. It just happened that two particular communities were involved, but it's not a communal thing," Sangma said on Sunday.

The clashes in Shillong, he added, were given a communal colour by vested groups and a section of the media outside the state.

News reports said some 400 protesters targeted a CRPF camp in Shillong on Sunday night.

Normal life continues to be affected in the town. Authorities have imposed curfew in the capital city to curtail any fresh violence.

Violence broke out last Thursday after two groups of people in the city's Punjabi Line area clashed after a bus handyman was allegedly beaten up by a group of residents. The clashhad been sparked by a fight between the handyman and a woman.

More than 10 people, including policemen, were injured in the violence. One person has been arrested so far in connection with the incident.

Late on Friday night, the Army carried out a flag march in various areas of the town.