Meghalaya polls: NCP candidate killed in IED attack

A day before home minister Rajnath Singh was slated to visit the East Garo Hill’s Songsang constituency, the Nationalist Congres Party’s candidate from Williamnagar which is barely 30 kilometres away was reportedly killed by militants.

Jonathan Sangma was travelling with his security detail — two security officers in a white Scorpio in Samanda’s Sobok Ray village when he was attacked by an IED bomb. The police were yet to reach the region till the filing of this report but unconfirmed reports said that all of them were dead.

Incidentally, Jonathan had, in 2013, filed a case against the Congress candidate from the constituency Deborah Marak alleging that she had used the militant group GNLA of pressuring him. She was charge-sheeted in the case and is now out on bail.

This time, posters were found in villages in Williamnagar warning people of voting against Jonathan.

Congress MP from Shillong Vincent Pala, however, condemned the incident. “We strongly condemn the incident and we stand by Jonathan’s family at this moment. These incidents shouldn’t take place in a state like Meghalaya,” said Pala.