SHILLONG: Police are yet to arrest the accused from Assam, who fled the State after vandalizing the offices of Transport department, DMR and Sales Tax in Byrnihat, Ri Bhoi recently.
The matter was raised by Paul Lyngdoh (UDP) by way of a call attention motion in the Assembly on Thursday.
The UDP member expressed concern over the delay in arresting the accused who had escaped to Assam after committing the crime. “Meghalaya is seen as a soft state. Police are running after petty criminals while real culprits go scot free,” Lyngdoh said.
To buttress his argument, Lyngdoh cited that when DD Lapang was the chief minister in the 1990s, his convoy was attacked and he had to be escorted though a forest area.
In reply, the Home Minister, while referring to the vandalism in Ri Bhoi said, the incident occurred on March 5 at around 6 pm when an overloaded coal laden truck attempted to flee away from the main road, by avoiding the weighbridge and in the process, dashed into a stationary JCB (Excavator) of the Transport department which was purposely kept by the department on the road side to prevent trucks from fleeing away.
“As a result the coal laden truck overturned and capsized on the road side due to the impact of the collision. Immediately, after the accident, the truck driver fled away,” the Home Minister said.
“After sometime, an unruly mob comprising around 400-500 people, came to the place, pelted boulders and stones at the Transport, DMR and Sales Tax offices and damaged the office items like computer equipment, CCTV cameras installed at the weighbridge and furniture of all these departments which were inside the campus of the weighbridge,” he said.
They also set on fire the JCB which was partially damaged. The damage at the check gate was estimated at around Rs.80,000.
The Home Minister said that the police were heavily outnumbered and could not prevent the damage following which the officer in-charge Byrnihat outpost rushed to the spot along with re-enforcement and brought the situation under control.
An FIR was filed at Byrnihat outpost jointly by the Superintendent of Taxes, Taxation check gate, the personnel at the DMR check gate, and the Enforcement Inspector, Transport department on March 6.
After the case was registered, the CCTV footage was seized to be sent to FSL for analysis and to ascertain the real identity of the culprits involved.
Further, the additional chief secretary, in charge mining and geology had a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, Ri Bhoi recently in his office chamber, the Home Minister said.
The Deputy Commissioner informed that in spite of necessary action taken by him, the miscreants who committed the crime, crossed over to Assam since the check gate is located adjacent to Assam.
“Therefore it became difficult for the district administration to take legal action against the culprits. The additional chief secretary, in charge Mining and Geology asked the Deputy Commissioner to locate a suitable alternate site for the check gate and weighbridge in consultation with Transport department, police, taxation, and mining departments,” HDR Lyngdoh said.
