Meghalaya villagers flee after firing by Bangladesh Rifles

Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang has moved the Centre on the repeated "unprovoked" firings by BDR which has triggered panic among the villagers, prompting them to flee, officials said.

Lapang spoke to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram over telephone last evening apprising him of the plight faced by the people residing along the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border following repeated incidents of firing by BDR, they said.

Over 100 families in the Muktapur area have moved to safer places, the officials said.

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Muktapur village headman Manosh Manner said the firing that occurred on Sunday has triggered panic among the people. "Many of the families have left their houses and moved to safer places since then," he told visiting reporters.

The villagers have also stopped going to their paddy fields out of fear, he said.

Lapang told Chidambaram that the people of Muktapur village and the areas along the border with Bangladesh in Meghalaya are in grip of insecurity and the firing incidents have affected them economically, the officials said.