The Garo hills of Meghalaya went into a total curfew after violence broke out in the West Garo hills while protests against the upcoming Garo Hills Autonomous District council elections were in session.

The protest turned into a violent confrontation with the demonstrators opposing the filling-in of nominations by non- garo communities for the upcoming elections.

Violence leads government to impose curfew and strict action

The confrontation needed Governmental intervention as two people were killed and several injured while the police opened fire to disperse the mob on Tuesday during the protests in the Chibinang area of the hills. Following this, the government imposed a total curfew under the section 163 of the BNSS.

Following the unrest in the hills, there were increasing reports of arson, vandalism and violence, compelling the government to provide for additional units of security forces in the area. Five units of the Army were deployed in the Tura town and Chibinang area respectively.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma also visited the area along with the Rapid action forces to supervise the situation in ground and cultivate the disposition of peace.

In this tensed situation, the government relaxed the curfew in the East Garo Hills from 8 am to 1 pm, while in West Garo Hills, it was from 2 pm to 4 pm. According to the reports of the district administration officials, the relaxation was taken up as a relief for the citizens and to allow them to procure the essential daily necessities.

However, in light of this violent and tense situation, Chief Minister announced that the elections planned to be held on 10th April would be postponed until further notice. Mobile and internet services were also suspended across five districts to contain the spread of violence, and misinformation and to maintain the law and order situation in the hills.