Two of the arrested individuals — Dilche Ch. Marak and Belinda M. Marak, are BJP Mahila Morcha members, the police said in a notification. The BJP leaders in Meghalaya are yet to react to this development.
Some of the arrested persons include Trinamool Congress workers, a police source said.
Tura, the second-largest metropolitan town in Meghalaya, has been demanding winter capital status from a segment of the Garo Hills population, which approximately comprises the western half of Meghalaya.
On late Monday night, when CM Sangma was holding a meeting with the leaders of the organisations to discuss the issues on winter capital demand and the proper implementation of a 51-year-old job reservation roster system with retrospective effect, a mob besieged the CM’s secretariat and threw stones at it.
Ten police officers, seven members of the Central Reserve Police Force, and a woman Home Guard were injured in the incident.
The demand has come as a result of the ‘misconception’ that Meghalaya’s eastern region is more developed because Shillong serves as the state’s capital.
–IANS
tdr/pgh
