By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The outgoing Acting DGP, Rajiv Mehta criticized MPCC working president Deborah Marak for not informing the police before proceeding to attend a prize distribution ceremony in East Garo Hills where she was surrounded by ANVC (B) militants on Saturday last.
“Police should have been informed about the programme and we expected more responsible behaviour from the political leader,” Mehta said, adding that when the security was provided, she should have used the service.
Earlier, Marak had said that it was good on her part not to use the security men as there would have been clashes between the militants and the police leading to bloodshed during the function.
She had also blamed intelligence failure for the sudden emergence of ANVC (B) militants during the function, which, however was rejected by the police.
Commenting on the issue of security cover to the VIPs in the context of threat from militants, Mehta said that the police would examine the threat perception case by case and it does not mean whether the affected person is a candidate or not as the police are duty bound to protect every one.
The new DGP, Kulbir Krishan, added that there is already a committee headed by the State Chief Secretary to assess the threat perception to persons and the committee reviews the matter periodically.
‘No politico-militant nexus’
The State Police on Thursday ruled out politico-militant nexus at this juncture by saying that it is now at an individual level.
“There is no direct nexus between politicians and political parties with the GNLA militants and what we know is that at the individual level, there can be nexus,” the outgoing acting DGP, Rajiv Mehta, told reporters on Thursday.
According to Mehta, an individual may use the militants for a benefit or out of fear due to the prevailing circumstances.
“But the nexus with the militants is not as a politician or as a member of a political party,” he added.
He, however, asserted that if there is any direct nexus between politicians and the militants, police would definitely take action against those involved.