SHILLONG, May 3: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the arson attacks on government establishments and property are reactions to the arrest of individuals based on pure evidence and facts involved in certain crimes.
He said the government has been firm in ensuring necessary steps are taken against those involved in such crimes. “We did expect some reactions to certain actions taken to ensure such incidents do not happen,” he added.
Sangma said the arson attacks happened after some members of the Khasi Students’ Union were arrested but “it will be incorrect to jump to conclusions”.
He said the government and the police do not act on speculations and actions have been and would be taken based on facts and evidence. “This is not about any organisation or anyone from a particular group. People cannot take the law into their own hands,” he said.
Sangma admitted the police have not been able to collect evidence to arrest the miscreants behind the “random” cases of arson in different parts of Shillong. He, however, said the government has been trying to contain the situation.
He said the police are competent in dealing with the situation arising out of “stray incidents” carried out in an “organised” manner.
“No matter how competent individuals are, such incidents are sometimes not easy to detect but we are on the job and I am confident we will be able to put the situation under control,” he added.
He also said the government has conveyed a strong message that it will be tough in dealing with crimes.
Asked why no arrests have been made so far in connection with the arson cases, he said, “Arrests have to be made based on evidence. We cannot just arrest somebody. It has to be based on some kind of evidence like CCTV recordings or video footage and we have not been able to collect that.”
He reasoned that these incidents have occurring in the corners of the city and hence it is not always possible to collect recordings and evidence of the crime.
