SHILLONG : Four arson incidents involving petrol bombs have been reported in Shillong in recent days, prompting police to intensify patrolling, vehicle checking and security measures across the city.
The incidents were reported at the Directorate of Mineral Resources (DMR), Lumdiengjri Police Station, Directorate of Health Services (DHS) and a traffic beat at Nongmynsong.
“Instances of arson which have happened — one at DMR and then one at Lumdiengjri police station, one at DHS and one more in traffic beat in Nongmynsong — fire has happened in these places,” East Khasi Hills SP in-charge Traffic Hari Prasanth M R said.
He said police have increased security, particularly around government offices located in secluded areas.
“We have taken measures, we have increased the foot patrolling, we have increased our car checking, we have put extra forces and we have also made sure we reached out to all the offices and have instructed them on what are the requirements,” he said.
The officer said the police are now better prepared to respond to such incidents.
On the investigation, Prasanth said police are examining CCTV footage from the areas where the incidents occurred and have questioned several people in connection with the cases.
“We are looking into all the CCTV footage, we are examining all those, we have called a few people and we have interrogated them. We have found a few people, we are just checking their location, we are interrogating them,” he said.
Providing details of the timing of the incidents, the SP said the attack at Lumdiengjri took place at around 9:45 pm, while the DHS incident occurred at around 3 am.
The Nongmynsong incident was reported at around 3:30 am, while the DMR incident took place at around 3:30 pm.
Police are continuing their investigation into the four incidents and are examining available CCTV footage and other information to establish the circumstances and identify those responsible.