Eight migrant coal mine labourers were lynched to death by a group of local labourers in Nongalbibra area of South Garo Hills in Meghalaya on Monday.
SP, South Garo Hills, Davis Marak told this newspaper that the incident took place on Sunday night when a group of local Garo and Bodo labourers attacked three coal mines of South Garo Hills district.
Informing that the assailants, who were in a large group and armed with sharp weapons, attacked the minority labourers mostly from Assam, Mr Marak said that most of those killed were lynched to death.
Clarifying that they have not found involvement of any militant group, Mr Marak said that three labourers were critically wounded and shifted to Goalpara Civil Hospital for treatment. “We have found evidence indicating involvement of Garo and Bodo labourers. The attack may be the fallout of the ongoing conflict between the local and migrant mine workers,” he said adding that the police has launched a massive combing operation in the area to arrest those involved in the incident.
It is significant that illegal mining at largescale in the frontier state of Meghalaya has been the cause of frequent conflict in the Garo Hills as it was attracting a large number of migrant labourers to the state.
This incident comes close on the heels of Friday’s incident in which a migrant labourer from Assam’s Dhubri district was lynched to death by a mob.