Shillong, March 3 With an improvement in the situation, authorities in Meghalaya relaxed the curfew here for three hours on Tuesday noon even as the security forces maintained a strict vigil.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Matsiewdor War Nongbri said that the curfew was been relaxed for three hours from 12 p.m. on Tuesday. However, after the relaxation, the curfew was back and would continue till Wednesday.
"Though there are no fresh incidents of violence, the curfew would continue as precautionary measures," he said.
Police officials in Shillong said that central para-military and state security forces continued to be deployed in the sensitive and mixed population areas of the state capital and its outskirts, including market places and business locations.
However, the exams being conducted by the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education (MBSE) - which began on Monday - have been exempted from the purview of the curfew.
Since Friday, three people - two non-tribals and a tribal - have been killed and many injured in ethnic clashes and attacks by rival groups in East Khasi Hills district and adjoining areas. The violence was triggered by the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act and the Inner Line Permit demand.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma ordered an inquiry into these incidents.
"A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. The district and police administrations have ensured that enough security personnel were put in place in the affected areas," he told the media after a review meeting with senior police and civil administration officials.
The Meghalaya Assembly on December 19 last year had unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to promulgate the ILP in the remaining areas of mountainous state to keep the entire state out of the purview of the CAA, but the Union Home Ministry is yet to issue the statutory notification in this regard.
The northeastern state had witnessed violent agitations in December last year over the issue of CAA and ILP.
The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (COMSO), a conglomerate of agitating bodies, said the agitation for the ILP would continue until the Home Ministry gives its approval. In the second week of December, Sangma had led a delegation of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) and met Home Minister Amit Shah to demand introduction of the ILP in the remaining part of the state.
( With inputs from IANS )