SHILLONG: Mystery surrounding a road accident involving a brand new luxury vehicle which crashed into a roadside shop at the dead of night here last week, seems to deepen with undying speculations that the vehicle was driven by an unnamed VVIP and the police have helped in covering up the matter.
The accident was first reported in a section of the local press three days ago speculating who the VVIP was and how the police went into action to quickly remove all visible traces.
Normally, such accidents do not get serious notice. As The Shillong Times office continued to receive calls from readers all these three days, some even questioning this paper’s integrity, this reporter tried to take a closer look at the accident.
When stitched together the bits and pieces of the information available, the story emerges that a brand new Jeep Rubicon (priced at Rs 70 lakh) moving at high speed crashed into a roadside shop close to the Survey of India gate. The vehicle was badly damaged and the shop totally crushed. Going by the impact of the crash, there are reasons to believe that the person behind the wheel must have sustained bleeding injury even though the airbag might have come into operation.
There was one report that there were blood stains at the spot. But then nobody reported to any hospital and the mangled vehicle was quickly towed away from public gaze. For the first few days after the incident, the District Police was not willing to share any information on the matter. Even the published press reports speculating on involvement of a VVIP were neither confirmed nor contradicted. This fuelled further speculations.
But the intriguing part is the police reluctance to share information. Five days after the accident, East Khasi Hills SP Sylvester Nongtnger, parted with some cryptic information. He said no FIR has been lodged and there is no GD entry either. He informed that since the matter has been mutually settled by the two involved parties it is being treated as closed.
Normally, this is never a serious matter for a reporter to further dig into the case. But since there was suspicion of VVIP involvement, the curiosity grew stronger. However, SP Nongtnger disclosed that the vehicle was driven by one Lim Marak and the owner of the vehicle was one Sanjay Sangma.
When asked where the vehicle was, he informed that since the case has been compounded, that vehicle has been given back to the owner. He categorically said that no one was injured in the accident.
As the speculations were rife that a constitutional office-holder was behind the wheel and lying injured at home since the accident, this paper tried to check the veracity of the information and in the process, among others, got in touch with the political secretary to the Chief Minister Daniel M. Thangkhiew on Wednesday night.
The usually cooperative man not only refused to talk about the matter but was uncharacteristically downright abusive. He called this reporter “cheap” for trying to dig into the case and trained his guns at press reporters including the Shillong Press Club.
“Don’t show off. Do you think I am scared of you? Why are you calling me at 11.30 in the night? Am I answerable to your paper?” Thangkhiew blurted out while signing off using four-letter expletives.
The mystery remains unravelled as of now. But the story is far from over.
