National Desk | At least five people, including two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, were injured when villagers attacked a border post in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district on Sunday night. The officers provided this information. Officials said on Monday that a mob attacked the post at Umsiem village near Dawki town, 100 km south of the state capital, around 10 pm. Chief Minister Konrad. Of. Sangma said the situation in the area near the international border was under control and the state government was closely monitoring the developments.
Inspector General of BSF Meghalaya Frontier Pradeep Kumar told PTI-Bhasha, “In the last few days, we have seized a lot of material, which was to be sent to Bangladesh through smuggling. Smugglers were also identified. After this action, they (smugglers) attacked the post and in retaliation BSF had to fire in the air. The force said in a statement that it has seized clothes worth Rs 2.7 lakh, which were to be smuggled. .
A BSF spokesperson said, “BSF foiled two smuggling attempts on Sunday. In the morning, they seized clothes worth Rs 2.21 lakh from Umsiam village. In the night, BSF seized sarees worth Rs 50,000 thrown by smugglers in the same village.” The BSF suspects that the smugglers gathered a crowd and laid siege to the post to avenge the action. At least two BSF personnel were injured in stone pelting by the mob, they said.
He said some villagers tried to force their way into the outpost, however they were pushed back. The Chief Minister said, “According to the reports I have received, this attack is related to some kind of smuggling. The smuggled material was recovered. This was his response. The government is closely monitoring the developments.” According to eyewitnesses, at least three villagers were also injured in the incident. The incident took place only after a vehicle in which three people were traveling allegedly broke down near the post, they said.
“The BSF personnel accused all three of them of being smugglers. The news spread and the surrounding villagers came to the rescue.” The villagers also accused the BSF jawans of being drunk in the line of duty, which has been denied by the Inspector General. Kumar said senior officials of local police and BSF rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. He said that the BSF has started an internal inquiry into the matter.
