He had allegedly put up a viral social media post calling for an uprising and to attack the chief minister's home in Tura asking people to lay down their lives like in September 30, 2005.
In a major development in the Tura unrest case, one of the key instigators of the mob violence, Salseng R. Marak, who allegedly urged protestors to burn down the ACHIK campsite and target police and the delegation holding talks with the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, has been arrested.
Since the violence started, police have arrested 18 people based on video footage and eye witness accounts for inciting the unruly mob. With Richard’s arrest, the tally has gone up to 19.
The attack has put paid to any further dialogue on the two core issues as the peaceful protest with a hunger strike was hijacked by a selected few that had political interests to do so.
While the CM was having a peaceful meeting with representatives of ACHIK and GHSMC at the CMO Tura, an unruly mob started pelting stones at the police and his office, resulting in injuries to several police personnel.
The meeting, aimed at addressing the demands of the protesting civil bodies, took a tumultuous turn when a group of agitated vested interest individuals in the crowd resorted to pelting stones at the CMO building and security personnel, and attempted to break open the gate on Monday evening.
The Civil Society groups led by ACHIK that included GHSMC and others have been on indefinite hunger strike for two weeks in Tura, West Garo Hills, demanding the establishment of winter capital in Tura and retrospective implementation of the roster system/ backlog policy.
The meeting attended by Assam's Agriculture Minister Atul Bora and Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong to discuss way forward in solving the long pending border of the two states.
CoTU had earlier served a 48-hour ultimatum to the Central government to book all the culprits involved in the parading of the Kuki-Zo women naked and repeatedly molested before committing the heinous crime of gang-raped on May 4.
