Security Provided to The Shillong Times Editor

SHILLONG (Meghalaya): Meghalaya Home Minister James K Sangma informed the Assembly on April 20 that they have provided security cover to The Shillong Times’ Editor, Patricia Mukhim after a petrol bomb was hurled at her residence on the evening of April 17.

Replying to a Zero Hour notice tabled by Independent legislator from Nongkrem, Lambor Malgniang, Home Minister informed senior police officers met Mukhim to get more details about the case and to review her security cover a day after the incident.

The Home Minister also informed the House that soon after the incident, officers acquainted with forensic science procedures and dog squad visited her residence to help Rynjah police in the investigation.

“The materials collected from the place of occurrence have been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Shillong for expert examination. The investigation is in progress but no arrest has been made so far,” Sangma said.

While condemning the “cowardly act”, the Home Minister assured the media fraternity and the people of the state that the government and the police are making all efforts to trace out the culprits and bring them to book.

On April 17, Mukhim’s house came under attack when one of the two motorbike-borne masked men, hurled a petrol bomb at her residence, causing no damages except blackening of the wall.

Soon after the attack, condemnations from across the country poured in even as media unions maintained that such attempts to trample the freedom of the press cannot be tolerated and will not deter them from providing a voice to the voiceless.

Turbulent Northeast for Journalists:

Last year, two journalists were killed in Tripura. First, Santanu Bhowmik, who worked for an Agartala-based news channel, was hacked to death while covering a road blockade by the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura. Then, Sudip Datta Bhaumik, a 51-year-old crime reporter, was shot dead at the Tripura State Rifles’ 2nd battalion headquarters. The police arrested the battalion commandant for the murder.

In Assam, the government recently announced compensation for the families of 32 journalists murdered in the last three decades. Militancy, land mafias and drug cartels had made the state a dangerous place to work in.