By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: With a few months to go before the new Director General of Police (DGP) is appointed, sources say that protests by the jail staff against the DG (Prisons) Kulbir Krishan was orchestrated by a group with ‘vested interests’.
The employees of the Shillong District jail had gone into agitation on Saturday alleging highhandedness on part of the DG (Prisons). Subsequently the staff had given a 10-day deadline for the removal of Krishan who refuted the charges stating that the agitation was a means to divert attention from the ongoing financial irregularities in the Shillong jail.
Sources said on Sunday that the agitation by the jail staff was an attempt to tarnish the image of the DG (Prisons) by people in the police department who are against his appointment as the new DGP.
Sources also informed that the jail staff staged the protest on Saturday as they had prior information that the DG would be out of station that day, attending a meeting in New Delhi.
However, due to the ongoing problems in the jail, Krishan postponed his trip.
According to sources, even before the protest by the jail staff there were rumours on September 18 last of a jailbreak in which GNLA chairman Champion Sangma was rumoured to have escaped.
“All these incidents confirm that there is a conspiracy against the DG (Prisons)”, sources added.
“Interestingly, the department was functioning smoothly since the time Krishan took over three and half years ago. The so called crisis in the jail has arisen all of a sudden”, sources pointed out.
It may be mentioned that the present DGP, N Ramachandran, will retire on October 31st. Besides Krishan, the probables for the post are senior police official B Kezo, Director General (Home Guards) from Assam, Subhash Goswami; Meghalaya Director General of Civil Defence and Home Guards Prem Singh (both 1977 batch); DK Pathak ADG training, CRPF and PJP Haneman (1979 batch), brother of Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope.