The home minister of the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya has resigned amid violence over the death of a former rebel leader. Cherishterfield Thangkhiew was allegedly killed during a police raid in the state capital, Shillong, on Saturday. His death sparked mob violence and arson in the city, forcing authorities to impose a two-day curfew. Mobile internet services were also suspended in four districts. Officials described it as a “serious breakdown of law and order”. Thangkhiew, 54, was one of the founding figures of Meghalaya’s separatist movement that vies for a separate homeland for its tribal population. Police say Thangkhiew was killed in “retaliatory firing” during a raid at his home in Shillong. But his family called it “cold-blooded murder” – they allege the police orchestrated a “fake encounter”, an Indian term for extra-judicial killings by authorities. On Sunday, angry protesters threw petrol bombs at Chief Minister Conard Sangma’s personal residence in Shillong. However, no one was hurt as the chief minister stays at his official residence. Incidents of stone-pelting were also reported from across the city. The state’s Home Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui, called for a judicial inquiry into the matter and said he was resigning “to bring out the truth”. Meghalaya is located in the north-east region of India, which runs from the Himalayas just below Tibet to the plains of Bangladesh, and borders the jungles of Myanmar (Burma) to the east. Carved out of the neighbouring state of Assam in 1972, Meghalaya is home to three major tribes: the Garo who reside in the Garo hills, the Khasi, who account for state’s the largest ethnic community , and live in the East and West Khasi hills; and the Jaintia who are concentrated in the Jaintia hills. The three communities are entitled to 80% of government jobs in the state through quotas. Meghalaya shares a border with Bangladesh and has seen decades of migration from the neighbouring country as well as from other parts of India – Bengal, Punjab and Bihar.