HC directs Meghalaya Police to ensure security to injured women activists

Shillong, Nov 15 (IANS) The Meghalaya High Court on Thursday directed the Director General of Police R. Chandranathan to provide security to frontline women rights activist Agnes Kharshiing and her aide Amita Sangma who were brutally attacked recently.

On the other hand, the Meghalaya Assembly Committee on Women Empowerment will ask Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police in-charge East Jaintia Hills to appear before it on November 26 in connection with the attack on the two activists.

Sangma has filed a petition in the High Court demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the murderous attack on her and Kharshiing by some coal mafia at Tuber Sohshrieh, a coal belt area in East Jaintia Hills district on November 8.

In his order, Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir noted that the petitioners have prayed for a CBI probe as they apprehend a threat to their life from the same assailants.

The petitioner has pleaded that the investigation is not being carried out in the real spirit giving rise to their apprehension, the Court order stated.

Moreover, the Court has asked the investigating officer to file the latest status of the investigation and to remain present in the Court along with the case diary on November 27.

Following the attack, Kharshiing and Sangma were admitted at North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) hospital.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had said that he will consult his cabinet colleagues whether the murder attempt on Kharshiing warrants a judicial or a CBI probe.