SHILLONG: Shillong city witnessed large scale violence for four consecutive days and apart from the residents of Mawkhar, Umsohsun, Jaiaw etc., who were affected by the tear gas and broken window panes due to the stone pelting, it was the city police personnel who bore the brunt of stones and arson attacks and finally managed to contain the situation after a protracted struggle.
“Meghalaya police did their job with one hand tied behind their back”, GOC 101 Area Lt Gen DS Ahuja observed recently, while lauding the state police and CRPF personnel for performing their duties with utmost restraint.
When the incident flared up on Thursday evening, it was clearly visible how police personnel were being attacked with stones and yet they were told to exercise restraint.
Police personnel tried their best to disperse the protestors for four days and nights but they were criticised for entering residential areas and bursting tear shells creating fear psychosis among the residents.
A cop who was deployed in the area, on the request of anonymity, said that nothing is impossible for police.
Admitting that there were initial hiccups with police deployment when the clashes broke out, he however stated that things were streamlined from the second day onwards and police received full support from both the Department and the District Administration.
As the city was gripped by a fear psychosis a visit to Motphran and nearby areas by a group of journalists at 2 AM on one of the nights following the outbreak of clashes, they saw a group of tired cops taking a nap in the verandahs of shops while others stood guard protecting their domain.
Speaking on the matter, East Khasi Hills SP, Davis Marak said this is a part of their job and the protestors were not their enemies but their own people.
He said that police is often vilified as brutal but Shillong police has shown that it is not brutal and it has done its job based on the gravity of the situation.
“We are here only to see that peace and harmony is brought in as early as possible and we were neutral. We don’t take sides and we are mandated to go as per the law,” Marak said.
Marak informed that more than 100 police personnel were injured in the clashes, some of them with serious injuries.
He also revealed that there was a standoff between police and protestors on Monday when negotiations were going on. Suddenly it started raining stones on the police and in the melee, 5-10 people who were the leaders of the protestors were seriously injured when the stones of the protestors hit them.
“We pulled them out from the crowd and gave them first aid and we also let them go since we knew they were not involved,” Marak added.
Asserting that the job of the police is to ensure security of each and every citizen, he also said that police did not show any favour to any of the parties involved in the recent conflict.
During the four days of standoff, the Shillong police used tear gas shells and even resorted to lathi charge depending on the situation.