Journalist Patricia Mukhim was on Monday named in a police complaint for a social media post, reported PTI. A village council in Meghalaya filed the complaint about Mukhim, alleging that her comments on Facebook about the attack on five boys in Lawsohtun village last week could incite communal tension.

On July 3, masked miscreants had attacked five boys on a basketball court in Lawsohtun village. No arrests have been made in the case so far. Eleven suspects have been detained for questioning, East Khasi Hills district Superintendent of Police Sylvester Nongtynger told PTI.

Mukhim, the editor of The Shillong Times and a winner of the Padma Shri, had criticised the Lawsohtun village council for failing to identify the “murderous elements” in the assault case.

She had urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to not let this be “another case lost in the police files”. She added: “We want action. Criminal elements have no community. They must be dealt with as per the law of the land.”

In the complaint, Lawsohtun village head Lurshai Shylla said Mukhim mentioned the 1979 conflict between tribals and non-tribals in her Facebook post. Shylla alleged that Mukhim’s comments gave fodder to some media houses in West Bengal that gave the incident a communal colour. It has put all Khasis outside the state in extreme danger, the complainant added.

“We are examining it [the complaint],” said the police. “You will get to know.” According to Nongtynger, the complaint will be forwarded to the police station concerned before a case is registered, reported Northeast Now.

Mukhim said she will fight the matter in court, and refused to comment further.