Meghalaya cops foil miscreants' bid to burn down Soksan Bridge in North Garo Hills

Tura, April 12: In what is being seen as an attempt to dissuade voters from participating in the GHADC elections held on Monday, timely police action helped douse a fire that was set up by unidentified miscreants early this morning in the village of Soksan under Mendipathar PS in North Garo Hills (NGH).

The incident, which took place early on Monday morning, saw tires being set on fire on the timber bridge in Soksan before it was doused by alert policemen, limiting the damage to the bridge.

NGOs of Garo Hills had called for a boycott of the GHADC polls over the issue of participation of non tribals in the election process. However administrations in all the 5 districts of Garo Hills where polling is being held, had worked tirelessly to ensure free and fair participation of all those that were eligible to vote, resulting in any incidents that could thwart peace being acted upon with speed.

“Our police teams have been patrolling non-stop to ensure that untoward incidents do not take place. The fire was noticed and the police acted quickly to douse the flames engulfed the bridge. Thankfully there was no major damage done,” said Superintendent of Police, NGH, Abraham T Sangma.

The SP added that an investigation has been launched into the case though he added that the act was being attributed to miscreants.

The bridge in question connects the towns of Resubelpara and Mendipathar and had been washed away in the devastating 2014 flash floods. The burning of the bridge however would not have affected connectivity as there is a subway to assist vehicles to pass through. Another RCC bridge is also on the verge of completion.

The incident was discovered at about 1 AM on Monday.