Eight migrant labourers killed, 3 injured in Meghalaya

Eight migrant coal mine labourers were killed and three others injured in an attack by miscreants on their camps in a remote mining village in Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills, triggering an exodus, police sources said on Monday.

The miscreants armed with sharp weapons attacked the the labourers sleeping in their camps at Garrittim village, about 50 kilometre from district headquarters Williamnagar,  at around midnight on Sunday night killing eight and injuring three, the sources said.

Inspector General (WesternRange) H Nongpluh confirmed the killings. Preliminary investigation revealed that the motive of attackers was to loot money from the labourers who had been paid wages by mine owners, the police said.

They said, the miscreants took away Rs 80,000 from their victims. District Deputy Commissioner C P Gotmare told PTI that prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC was clamped in the entire district.

All the victims who were from neighbouring Assam's Goalpara district have been identified, Gotmare said. The sources said that the attack created fear among the migrant population especially in remote mining villages where they were employed.