Mookhep firing incident
SHILLONG: Two years after the Mookhep firing incident which claimed the lives of two villagers, action against those involved is still pending.
Those who were killed and injured in the police firing at Mookhep, West Jaintia Hills, on September 24, 2014 were part of a mob agitating against the alleged apathy of the government in addressing issues related to the ban on coal mining in the State.
There were two inquiries into the incident, one by Additional Deputy Commissioner S.S Syiemlieh and the other by senior government official D.P Wahlang.
The first magisterial inquiry report, which was submitted on November 6, 2014, was not accepted by the Government.
The second report submitted to the Government on November 24, 2015, was accepted by the State Government, but it is yet to initiate action against those involved in the firing incident.
When contacted, an official source said the Home Department had taken up the issue with the police headquarters.
Earlier, during the budget session in March this year, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had said follow-up action, including legal proceedings, would be initiated against those involved in the incident.
One of the findings of the report was that as per the order of the magistrate, the police ‘fired in the air’ leaving two people dead.
The report also said shortage of manpower led to the firing incident and the police headquarters had failed to act in providing manpower even after the matter was taken up by the SP.
The district police had written a number of letters to the police headquarters for deployment of additional force, but “the reply from the police headquarters only stated that the matter had been taken up with the ADGP (law and order). What action had been taken up by the police headquarters is not, therefore, available with the inquiry officer,” the report had said.
A senior police officer, C. Syrti, who was deputy commandant 3rd MLP battalion had even suggested to the Deputy Commissioner to free an arrested person to calm down the situation.
Only 16 police personnel were deployed to tackle an aggressive crowd of around 600 persons who were demanding the release of the arrested person.
According to the report, the police fired in the air and it was found that two persons lost their lives and eight of them were seriously injured.