Man alleges WJH police austerity

SHILLONG, March 25: A resident from Shillong has alleged arbitrary exercise of power by West Jaintia Hills Police and has accused them of confiscating his mobile phone and Rs 50,000 in cash on Jowai Bypass.
Claiming that an extortion racket is on along the highway, the person, Vinod Kumar, said that while he was travelling in his Assam-registered vehicle, he was intercepted by the cops, who snatched his phone (bearing numbers 9706009178 and 8619304127) and Rs 50,000 in cash.
Kumar added that albeit the policemen at the naka check did not have name plates, he could still identify them.
Meanwhile, when contacted, a police official from West Jaintia Hills said that the vehicle was stopped because it was plying without a registration number. When Kumar was asked to produce documents, he “provided an unclear picture” of a temporary  registration of the vehicle, which, according to the official, could not be accepted as it was not presented through the DigiLocker.
DigiLocker is a key initiative under Digital India programme aimed at providing paperless governance to the citizens.
The official further said that the driver was not wearing a seat belt and when he was asked to pay the fine, the driver tried to flee only to be caught in a few kilometers’ distance.
It was informed that albeit Kumar was summoned to the police station so that necessary action can be initiated, he did not show up and rather started sending text messages to people with higher ranks.
With regard to the seizure of mobile phone and cash, the official said, “Will a person, who flees just to avoid paying fine of Rs 500, easily let go of Rs 50,000?”
“It is nothing but a stunt to show that he has connections as he had also threatened to call the police higher-ups when asked to pay the fine for not wearing the seat belt,” the official added.