By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The kidnapping and brutal murder of a tourist taxi driver, Samuel Mawlong and the subsequent arrest of the persons involved recently, has evoked widespread anguish amongst the other tourist taxi drivers of the State under the Meghalaya Tourist Transporter’s Association (MTTA) who demanded the State government to streamline the whole procedure and ensure the safety and security of the fellow drivers.
“We have apprised the government on this issue many times sought for their cooperation, but it seems the government is not interested in taking the initiatives in streamlining the whole thing and to put an end to such violent acts against the drivers who are always traveling in the highways,” president of MTTA, A Shanpru told reporters here on Wednesday.
Stating that the association is ready for dialogue with the government, Shanpru said that it will be appropriate if the government considers taking up the matter seriously as it concerns not only the life of the drivers but the passengers as well.
It was on Monday when the Police busted a five-member gang of carjackers responsible for the killing of a driver of Swift Desire tourist taxi (ML 05 J 8343) – Samuel Mawlong, whose body was dumped in Lumshnong village of East Jaintia hills on June 26. The arrested persons have been identified as Mithu Sharma, Prakash Purkayastha, Guatum Tati and Sidharth Thapa.
Demanding an assurance on their security, the MTTA on Wednesday asked the police department to re-issue and verifies the identity cards to all its members to prevent similar incidences from happening in the future.
“From time to time, our members especially the young drivers have lost their life to kidnappers and car lifters and all this has happened due to non-verification of new and old drivers and also due to the non-availability of a proper stand,” MTTA general secretary Diganta Nath said.
Citing non-availability of a proper tourist taxi’s stand as the main reason behind the occurrence of such crimes, Nath said “Till date, we do not have a proper stand and proper network; our members have spread around the city searching for passengers and commuters. It is therefore difficult to keep track of their movement.”
MTTA said that with a proper stand and an office in place, it would easy for the association to keep track on its members and many such crimes could be curb down tremendously.
Stating that if such an incident struck, the life of the driver as well as the passengers are being put at risk, Nath said “We are contemplating of introducing a new guideline whereby passengers will be asked to produce identity cards for the safety of the driver and the other passengers boarding the vehicle.”
The MTTA has banned the three accused who were also tourist taxi drivers from driving in Meghalaya.