Tura, March 10: Garo Hills police have clarified that the deaths of two people in Chibinang town on Monday night resulted from a group clash, and not from police firing.
The confirmation follows a post-mortem report, which found that one victim was hacked with a sharp weapon, while the other sustained bullet injuries from a country-made gun.
According to West Garo Hills Police Chief Abraham T. Sangma, police teams on the ground had attempted to halt the clash between the two sides by firing blank rounds. Two bodies were later recovered from the site of the incident.
The bodies were taken to Tura Civil Hospital for post-mortem, where doctors confirmed the autopsy findings. One victim had severe injuries to the head and body, allegedly caused by a sharp object, while the other had bullet wounds consistent with a traditional country-made rifle.
With no injuries caused by standard police-issued firearms, security forces believe that some of the attackers were in possession of illegal weapons during the clash in Chibinang.
