Attack on woman activist: Meghalaya yet to decide on CBI or judicial probe

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Wednesday said he will consult his cabinet colleagues whether the murder attempt on frontline women's activist Agnes Kharshiing warrants a judicial or CBI probe.

Kharshiing, who was admitted to super-specialty North East Indira Gandhi Regional of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) hospital following a murderous attack on her life, is "off the ventilator and improving", a hospital spokesperson said.

"We will first take a report what happened (attack on Kharshiing) and then we will consult with our colleagues in the cabinet. It is a serious matter and we will take it up seriously," the Chief Minister said.

Sangma, who reached Shillong on Tuesday night from New Delhi after a vacation in Europe, visited Kharshiing at the hospital and promised all support.

"It is totally condemnable. What has been done is a sheer act of violence and not at all acceptable. We will take stern measures to ensure that the guilty are punished," said the Chief Minister.

Kharshiing along with her aide Amita Sangma were brutally attacked by a group of some 40 people after the activist lodged a complaint on the illegal mining and transportation of coal in the district.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ordered an interim ban on "rat-hole" coal mining in Meghalaya from April 17, 2014, after the All Dimasa Students' Union and the Dima Hasao District Committee filed an application before it, alleging that the water of the Kopili river was turning acidic due to coal mining in the Jaintia Hills.

--IANS

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