Shillong, Jan. 28: The run-up to the February 26 elections in Meghalaya had been quiet so far, but the killing of a Congress worker in Mawsynram in East Khasi Hills has raised questions about the state’s security preparedness.

Though the police have played down the killing, the incident came as a warning that the elections could witness violence.

Meghalaya director-general of police L. Sailo told newspersons today he apprehended violence at some polling stations which had been identified as sensitive.

The United Democratic People’s Solidarity (UPDS), a Karbi outfit, and the Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) have threatened to disrupt the poll process in the Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi districts bordering Assam, where the outfits are active, intelligence sources said.

Following the violence in Tripura yesterday, where militants gunned down 11 CPM supporters and their families, the law and order machinery in the state has been beefed up, especially in some highly “sensitive areas”.

Chief election commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh on Monday asked the three states going to the polls -- Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya -- to be on high alert against communal campaigning.

The Meghalaya administration has projected nearly 600 polling stations as sensitive. There are a total of 1,569 polling stations. Sailo said the police did not have the adequate manpower to claim a foolproof security blanket in the state.

He said most of the constituencies where political violence has been anticipated were in West Khasi Hills and East Khasi Hills and one constituency in the Jaintia Hills.

The state election department has asked the Election Commission for 50 companies of paramilitary forces to assist the state machinery during the elections, especially in the Garo Hills where the police is hamstrung by inadequate manpower.

The state police chief did not rule out armed violence during the polls, saying that political clashes could take place in constituencies identified by the police, but “all measures have been put in place”.

The DGP said militant outfits could trigger violence ahead of the elections in the Garo Hills. Even if the local outfit, the A’chik National Volunteers’ Council stays away and does not disrupt the polls, the presence of other outfits from Assam cannot be ruled out, Sailo added. “We know the situation in Garo Hills and it is not only the ANVC that operates there. The NDFB and some smaller outfits are also present,” he said.

“We are already laying fibre optic cables across Dimapur and Kohima and have similar plans for all other districts,” said a BSNL official adding, “Our net connectivity will also be much faster.”

However, a private Internet service provider claims that it is already dishing out Net on cable (land cable) in Dimapur at higher speed.

“Now, we have bandwidth of 128 KBPS,” said Dharmendra K. Giri, software engineer at the service provider.