SHILLONG: A day after the arrest of KSU president Daniel Khyriem, police have hinted arrest of more leaders of pressure groups for the varied pending criminal cases under the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order (MMPO) Act during their agitations demanding ILP in 2013.
Police have deployed additional security forces following sporadic cases of arson reported in parts of the State on Thursday and Friday.
East Khasi Hills SP M. Kharkrang told reporters on Friday that there are some more bailable warrants of arrest issued by the special court dealing with the case which will be executed soon.
Kharkrang said as many 87 criminal cases were registered against the leaders of various pressure groups and bailable warrants of arrest were issued by the court following the filing of cases under MMPO Act during their agitation demanding the implementation of ILP in the State.
The SP said that out of the 87 cases registered, charge sheets were filed in 82 cases in the court dealing with the MMPO cases. As many as 80 members of various pressure groups were arrested in the past in connection with the case, but all of them have secured bail, he said.
A Government lawyer dealing with the matter said that the cases under MMPO Act were different from the civil case of damage suit of over Rs. 31 crore pending before the special court. The damage suit was filed for the damages incurred during the ILP related agitations.
He, however, said that the same special court is dealing with both MMPO cases which are criminal in nature and the damage suit which is civil in nature.
The cases registered under MMPO are under various sections dealing with arson, criminal intimidation, damage of property, criminal conspiracy, murder and abetment, among others, which took place during the four-month-long agitations sponsored by the pro-ILP groups.
Police also clarified that several summons and warrants were issued to the KSU president at his residence in the past, but neither he nor his relatives received them.
Later on Thursday, the bailable warrant of arrest was issued when he was at Sadar police station and subsequently he was arrested after he refused the warrant, police added.
Police registered as many as seven cases against the KSU chief under MMPO.
According to East Khasi Hills SP, the action of the police was as per the direction of the court. The status of the execution of the bailable warrant of arrest issued by the court was reported to the court, the police official said, adding that the court had also fixed a date for police to reply on the cases.
While stating that the cases of arsons were linked to the arrest of the KSU leader, Kharkrang said that security had been beefed up and additional forces deployed in vulnerable areas.
Police, however, are yet to make any arrest following Thursday’s incidents of hurling of petrol bomb at a shop in Polo and torching of a government vehicle in the city.
