SHILLONG, Aug 31: The BJP’s Pynthorumkhrah MLA, Alexander Laloo Hek said the state government should constitute a high-level inquiry commission to probe the alleged vehicle scam and other issues that have surfaced in the police department.
“A proper inquiry is required into this whole controversy. It is not possible for one official to do it alone. There will be involvement from top to bottom,” he told The Shillong Times here on Wednesday.
Hek, a former minister, said he knows how things work in the government since he had been a minister.
“Every file is channelised from top to bottom. We cannot make one official a scapegoat. Everyone who is involved in this scam should be exposed and action should be taken as per the relevant provisions of the law,” he said.
Stating that many things need to be unearthed, Hek said there must be someone at the top who has approved the purchases of various vehicles. “This can be established only if there is a high-level inquiry. There is a need to go deep into the findings of the inquiry of the police,” he said.
Hek said it is not right for Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to downplay the alleged scam since the findings of the police inquiry are already in the public domain.
“The government should not shy away from constituting an inquiry in order to put things to rest,” he added.
Sangma had said it is improper to call the alleged irregularities and mismanagement in the Police Headquarters a “scam”, apparently unaware that the word was mentioned in the internal inquiry report.
When he was corrected by the reporters he was talking to, he said he is yet to go through the report.
“…it is not correct to jump to conclusions from the Press side and start using big words to get the attention of the public. It does not look proper,” Sangma had said.
“If there are facts and figures and the same comes out, then that is fine. We will do whatever needs to be done. We have never shied away from any inquiry and we will not shy away from it either,” he added.
The CM said it needs to be examined if the personnel concerned misused public funds. He said the government will order an inquiry if the Home department suggests so.
A high-level inquiry, ordered by Director-General of Police LR Bishnoi, had unearthed the unofficial procurement and mismanagement of 29 vehicles and the use of fuel by the then Assistant Inspector-General of Police (Administration), Gabriel K Iangrai.
Cong chief takes a dig
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Congress Pradesh Committee (MPCC) chief Vincent H Pala took a dig at the MDA Government on the alleged scam in the police department.
Asserting that corruption, scams and scandals are not new with the MDA, he said, he said that there is a ‘scam’ in multiple departments. “It seems for this government, their own people are more important and law is of no use for them,” Pala said, adding that the incumbent government is misusing the police.
“There is nothing that this Government can do well,” the Congress chief said.
Pala also slammed Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for roping in teachers into politics, while also pointing out that Conrad’s NPP is fielding a government servant as its candidate for polls.
“The dome collapsed but no action has been taken against the contractor and inquiries after inquiries have been constituted but we have not seen even a single result,” he claimed.
Lamenting that coal and timber-laden trucks are often seen overturned on the roads, Pala said that the government asks for evidences and proofs whenever confronted.
“This is a challenge for the future of our state and people must realise that the future will be no different. We will have issues like drugs and unemployment,” Pala said.
