SHILLONG: The Assembly session on Wednesday witnessed a face-off between Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and HSPDP MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit after the latter accused the chief minister of misusing his office by interfering in the working of the Police department.
Basaiawmoit while moving a cut motion on the functioning of the Police department was referring to two incidents involving the chief minister’s convoy, the recent one being the case at Upper Shillong where the driver of a Sumo was booked under Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder) and the other at Sumer in 2014 where a daily labourer was hit by the chief minister’s convoy which led to his death.
Drawing from the incidences, he registered his protest against the chief minister and said, “On the issue of interfering with the law enforcer i.e. the police in connection with an accident case at Upper Shillong that involved the chief minister’s vehicle in which a driver was arrested and charged with an attempt to murder and secondly the inaction and indifferent attitude of the chief minister towards the victim, who was hit to death by his convoy at Sumer on April 20, 2014, namely Wanbok Syiem.”
In this connection, he demanded an apology from the chief minister to the family members of both the victims, ensuring that the police who have dealt with the Upper Shillong case should not unnecessarily harass the said driver and to also immediately pay compensation to the family members of the deceased killed at Sumer.
“Interestingly, both the victims happened to come from poor families, this is only indicative of the fact that the chief minister is not at all respecting the poor people. The action of the chief minister is not acceptable in a modern society especially in a democratic country,” the HSPDP member said.
Pointing to the case at Upper Shillong, where the driver Jeslakur Mawdoh was arrested, Basaiawmoit claimed, “The police must have done it under the pressure from the higher ups.”
Replying to Basaiawmoit’s accusations, the chief minister said that he was not aware of the person/persons referred to as higher-ups, moreover, he stated that it is an allegation and it should be substantiated to indicate that the Home minister has talked to the superintendent of police.
“It is a serious allegation and I came to know about the incident from the party members. I called up the SP and he said that we are looking into all angles and allow us to complete the investigation,” the chief minister added.
He added that he was informed after three days about the incident and concluded, “It should be expunged.”
In this connection, the Speaker A.T. Mondal intervened and said that the statement “misuse of CM’s office” should be expunged.
However, Basaiawmoit said, “It is an act of negligence. After raising a hue and cry, the section (of attempt to murder) was dropped. I will not retract from what I said.”
Citing the death of Wanbok Syiem, he pointed, “The law is equal for all.”
On the other hand, while speaking on police-public relation, he stated that police should learn a new and a different technique to unearth crimes.
“Under no circumstances should the police be allowed to adopt forceful confession. For example, just recently there was a report that the police picked up the uncle of the victim and forced him to confess to the crime. This case is related to the unfortunate incident that took place at 4½ Mile Upper Shillong where a girl was allegedly rape and murdered. What will happen to the person if the mother of the culprit did not hand over her son to the police? I know for sure that he would have been still in police custody and would have landed in serious trouble for no fault of his,” he said.
Replying to this, Warjri said it not a fact that the uncle was tortured and that he was detained for questioning as he bore injury marks in his hand, he did not go to work, he was in an inebriated state and he was the first person to find the body of the girl.
In light of the agitation programmes and the manner in which the situation is handled, he blamed the police personnel for failure to remain calm while dealing with the situation.
“However, in many cases it was witnessed that the crowd was unnecessary provoked by police action which resulted in the injury of many persons and even the loss of lives,” he said.
As for the scope of employment in the Police department, he suggested to incorporate Khasi and Garo languages in the educational qualification required for each and every person who apply for jobs in the Police department.
Meanwhile, Warjri informed Paul Lyngdoh (UDP), who took part in the cut motion that the last date for application to the Police personnel has been revised till April 30.
In a reply to K. Pangniang (HSPDP) on the issue of initiating talks with militant outfits, Warjri said, “The government is open for talks if the militants eschew and stop violent activities.”
