SHILLONG: The Shillong Press Club has condemned the arbitrary and ludicrous behaviour of Meghalaya police personnel who raided the residence of its general secretary, Powell Sohkhlet at Nongmensong late night on June 1.
In a statement, SPC president, David Laitphlang said that what is appalling is that all personnel except the team leader were masked as if afraid to disclose their identity and entered Sohkhlet’s residence without a warrant and in his absence citing that they were looking for a family member who is a KSU activist.
All personnel were male and they entered even rooms occupied by female members of the family, thereby, terrifying them and children as well, the statement said.
The SPC said that the KSU activist should have been called to report to the concerned police station if at all the police needed him. “Was it necessary to barge into his residence late night as if there was no tomorrow?” the statement stated.
The SPC demanded stringent action against the concerned personnel with immediate effect. “It is expected that Meghalaya Police and especially Shillong police live up to its declared mission of maintaining a ‘Safe and Secure Shillong’ at all times”, the statement added.
MEPA for action against raid, attack on ST vehicle
In a separate statement, the general secretary of MEPA, Philip Marwein condemned the raid at the residence of Sohkhlet, Joint Editor of Mawphor daily without any rhyme and reason. “This is high handedness, arbitrary and violation of laid down rules by the police with regard to house search without observing the laid down sections of the law under Cr.P.C”, the statement said.
MEPA while demanding action against the police personnel asked the police authorities to desist from such acts in future, especially in dealing with scribes.
Further, MEPA also condemned those responsible for throwing stones at the vehicle that carried The Shillong Times newspapers to Tura on the same night.
It appeals to the police to track down those responsible and punish them according to the law of the land.
MEPA also appealed to all people of Meghalaya to demonstrate sanity during times of disturbances, not to lend credence to rumours and also not to take the law unto themselves but to show maturity and judiciousness by taking recourse to legal means to redress grievances with authorities.
Sohkhlet said that his wife and children were not at Nongmensong when the police raided his house.
“Police came looking for my cousin who they alleged is a KSU member. I am not against them coming to my house, but I am against the timing which is about 11:30 pm and moreover, there were no women police personnel with the team as they searched rooms occupied by young ladies.
