SHILLONG, Aug 29: State Vigilance Commissioner Donald P Wahlang on Monday assured action against anyone found involved in the vehicle scam in the Police department but at the same time asked everyone to wait for the submission of the full report.
Wahlang, who is also the chief secretary, was reacting to a query on whether he would take cognizance of the matter.
Cautioning news agencies against initiating a media trial, Wahlang said the accused police official has neither given any statement nor replied to the charges levelled by the five-member internal probe committee since he is on medical leave. “In accordance with the principles of natural justice, which the press also stands for, we should not just start a media trial,” he said, adding that the officer in question should be given the opportunity to respond to the charges.
“We will take appropriate steps after hearing both the sides. I can assure that the guilty will not be spared but let us wait for the complete report,” Wahlang said.
The vehicle ‘scam’ within the Meghalaya police department was exposed following a high-level internal inquiry headed by Additional Inspector-General of Police Mukesh Kumar Singh.
Apart from procurement of vehicles for the Police department, discrepancies have also been noticed while issuing of fuel coupons.
The charges are wide-ranging and the evidence is overwhelming. Unofficial procurement and non registration of vehicles, discrepancies in documents, questionable allotment and purchase of cheaper models against sanction of expensive variants – the inquiry report exposes it all.
The inquiry report, which was prepared, based on perusal of records and documents received from the Police HQ, states that a total of 29 official vehicles were in the personal custody of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (A) Gabriel K Iangrai, who has been accused of stepping beyond his authority and misusing his power leading to the wrongdoings.
