SHILLONG, April 17: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said that he has already written to the central government requesting deployment of 10 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to check illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state.
“I have already written to the Government of India on it and expect the Centre to respond accordingly,” Sangma said.
The High Court of Meghalaya had recently directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to ensure the deployment of 10 companies of “appropriate” Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), strictly for the purpose of keeping vigil on the roads and arresting the illegal transportation of illegally-mined coal in the state.
It may be mentioned that the state police has been continuously slammed by the High Court for not doing enough to stop illegal mining and transportation of coal.
However, despite being slammed on several occasions, Director-General of Police Lajja Ram Bishnoi has defended the police claiming they have managed to keep the illegal mining and transportation of coal under check despite manpower shortage even as he maintains that wherever mistakes are pointed out, the force tries to plug the loopholes.
Bishnoi also lamented that the strength of the force is not proportionate to dominate each and every inch of land to counter the illegalities.
Recently, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has expressed its inability to provide ten companies of its personnel for deployment in Meghalaya with the sole objective of checking illegal mining and transportation of coal.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had made the announcement while informing that the state government had written to both the Ministry of Home Affairs and CISF following the High Court’s ruling.
Asserting that it was not a setback, Tynsong claimed that the state police force is well equipped to handle any situation.
“Despite the presence of the police 24X7, criminal activities are still happening. We are trying our best to ensure that illegal mining is stopped at any cost,” Tynsong added.
