Snatched Meghalaya police rifles recovered from Shillong river

Anonymous letter to headman of volatile locality and district police chief said firearms had been thrown into river

A team of the Meghalaya Fire and Emergency Services on Monday recovered the three INSAS rifles that masked miscreants snatched from the police during the violence and arson on August 15. The rifles were recovered from the Umkhrah river flowing through State capital Shillong. “The firearms were fished out in the afternoon from a spot near the Umpohliew Bridge across the river,” a government spokesperson said. The Fire Services team had conducted the search about 48 hours after an anonymous letter to the headman of Mawlai Town Dorbar -- the most volatile area during the unrest on Independence Day -- claimed the rifles had been tossed into the river.