Meghalaya IED at Dhar Company Site: Two Suspected HNLC Operatives Arrested as SIT Leads Probe

Overview

• East Jaintia Hills police detained two overground workers tied to the banned HNLC and said both confessed to planting the device at the Shymplong site.
• The December 15 blast damaged a water tanker at a workers’ camp, and police reiterated that there were no injuries or deaths.
• The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad confirmed the use of high explosives, and the Forensic Science Laboratory is examining the composition.
• An FIR cites attempt to murder and a terrorist act under the IPC along with the Explosive Substances Act, with no sections for death or grievous injury invoked.
• HNLC publicly claimed responsibility and framed the act as linked to extortion demands against the Dhar Company, a claim that has sharpened concern over recurring extortion affecting businesses during ongoing talks with the group.