By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh has clarified that the visit of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Rajiv Mehta to the residence of the Assembly Privileges Committee Chairman, Ronnie V Lyngdoh was not to apologise on behalf of his juniors.
“Rajiv Mehta was on his way to Dawki when he decided to enter RV Lyngdoh’s house. It was not an intentional visit to apologize on behalf of the traffic cops, who had issued a summons slip to the Assembly Privileges Committee Chairman”, the Home Minister, HDR Lyngdoh told this reporter.
It may be mentioned that on Thursday, the Home Minister had summoned the ADGP to explain why he visited RV Lyngdoh’s house and why he apologized on his behalf of his juniors—Constable Thapa and Inspector Cherry Shadap.
“Mehta did not apologize for the duties performed by these two cops, in fact, he apologized for the bad behavior of the traffic personnel as alleged by RV Lyngdoh”, the Home Minister stated.
It would have been an unwarranted apology if the ADGP had apologized for the duties and implementation of the law undertaken by these traffic personnel.
Following Mehta’s visit, RV Lyngdoh agreed to withdraw the summons against the two police personnel, although the MLA claims that it was a case of “mutual understanding” between him and the top cop.
Meanwhile, when asked about the action of RV Lyngdoh to summon the duo to the Privileges Committee, the Home Minister said “This is entirely in the hands of the Committee. We don’t know what had happened that day but it is very wrong to summon the two responsible personnel if they had performed their duties”, HDR Lyngdoh said while reiterating “Nobody is above the law”.
Earlier, several prominent organisations have decried Lyngdoh’s action in summoning two traffic police personnel.
Last week a traffic policeman had slapped a fine of Rs 1000 on Community and Rural Development Minister Saleng A Sangma for wrong parking. Sangma paid the fine without much ado. What remains unanswered is what exactly transpired between the ADGP and the Chairman Privileges Committee, RV Lyngdoh which prompted the latter to withdraw the summons issued against the traffic personnel as Mehta remains uncontactable.