SHILLONG, April 10 — More than 200 Hmar people have taken shelter in Meghalaya following clashes with the Dimasa tribals in Cachar Hill districts of neighbouring Assam since April one, reports PTI. The Hmars had mostly taken shelter in the Evangelical Free Church of India in the state capital, official sources said.
The displaced were being rehabilitated by some local NGOs. The state Government would provide relief to the refugees only after getting the report of the enquiry into the exodus. The East Khasi Hills district’s Extra-Assistant Commissioner, I Majaw would conduct the enquiry and the report would likely to be submitted Friday, the sources said.
Z Changsan, President of the Meghalaya unit of ‘Hmar Inpui’, an NGO, claimed nearly 280 Hmar people in two batches had fled the Cachar hills districts of Assam and taken shelter in the church after the ethnic clashes. He claimed 33 lives were lost in the recent clashes. He said they had submitted a memorandum to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for providing security to his community in North Cachar.
Agitated Dimasa youths set ablaze several houses in two Hmar villages in North Cachar Wednesday during a 12-hour bandh called by the All-Dimasa Students Union to protest against the killing of 25 Dimasas in Cachar district on April 1.