'I have put forth my papers, after due consultation with my party leadership, to allow a free and fair probe into the killing of Chesterfield Thangkhiew', Meghalaya home minister Lahkmen Rymbui said
A person was also arrested in connection with the blast that took place on Sunday evening at the entrance of one of the shops at Police Bazaar, he said.
Polling began to elect 60 members to the ninth Meghalaya Assembly from among 345 candidates on Saturday with an electorate of 15.3 lakh.
Altogether 12 insurgent groups from the Northeast including the coordination committee comprising seven militant outfits groups in Manipur have called for a general shut-down on January 26 to bar people of the region from taking part in Republic Day celebrations.
Official sources in Shillong said that the bandh called by the HNLC, which launched an armed revolution demanding a 'separate homeland' for the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya, has affected road services to Shillong from Guwahati and other parts of Assam.
Police informed that a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Raymond Diengdoh cordoned a hideout of the banned Hynnewtrap National Liberation Council at Paham Umdoh village early Wednesday morning. On being surrounded, the ultras opened indiscriminate fire, injuring the DSP seriously. In the ensuing gun battle, one militant was killed while two others were arrested. Rest of the group managed to flee.
Five militants were killed in an encounter with the police at Cleave Colony in the heart of Shillong on Tuesday.
The HNLC, which was formed in 1992, has been involved in bloody conflict with police and security forces in pursuant of their demand for a 'sovereign homeland' for Khasi tribe, one of the three major tribal groups in Meghalaya.
While the banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council has suffered a series of blows in the past few days, allegations of a nexus between the militants and NGOs have created a flutter among the society.
The Border Security Force has handed over a list of 66 camps of north-east insurgents to the Border Guard Bangladesh, seeking actions against them.
A 'beef party' and a bandh greeted Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah who visited the state on Wednesday as part of his north-east tour seeking to strengthen party base and urging workers to make public the alleged corruption by ruling Congress party in Meghalaya.
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