SHILLONG, Nov 19: Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Tuesday suspected a “political ploy” behind the allegations that a police vehicle escorting him to the Cherry Blossom Festival hit a biker and killed him.
He said he cannot rule out the possibility of a “political conspiracy” as “there is a lot of hate and malice” being generated towards the people in power.
“Don’t forget that the same people who are pointing fingers at us have voted overwhelmingly in favour of this government. We are not here by force; we are a democratically-elected government,” he said.
Lyngdoh said the biker’s death is being investigated and the vehicle used by his security personnel is at the Umiam police station. “The security personnel have been asked to report to the investigating officer to record their statements,” he added.
Asked if the perceived VIP culture has become a menace in the city, he said the term is a paradox as people want their leaders to be visible and be present everywhere.
“They invite us on all occasions, expect us to be present at all funerals and marriages and see patients. They expect us to be in time for all programmes and they also expect us to not use sirens,” he said.
“How can we stay in traffic and reach a programme on time?” Lyngdoh asked.
“You will be seen as arrogant and high-handed when you make them wait and when we use the siren, they call us high level,” he said, adding that only a person who wears shoes will understand where it pinches the most.
He also said that if he makes someone wait, people call him arrogant and when he gives them time, a group will complain that he is entertaining another group for too long.
The fatal accident in which biker Hudderfield Rymbui, a resident of Nongtalang in West Jaintia Hills, lost his life sparked outrage across Meghalaya, with many questioning the prioritisation of the VIP movement over the safety of ordinary citizens. Citizens have demanded accountability and called for stricter measures to ensure VIP convoys operate responsibly on public roads.
The Thma U Rangli-Juki has demanded an independent and time-bound CBI inquiry into the killing of Hudderfield Rymbui by a speeding police escort vehicle of the tourism minister.
Meanwhile, the VPP on Tuesday questioned the quality of leadership in Meghalaya while pointing out that the state of affairs is such that people at the helm of power abuse power while the various branches of the government entrusted to protect the rights of the people are violating them.
“I don’t want to undermine the role of the police or any other institution but it is very sad that we never get anything from any inquiry. So many inquiries have been conducted without results. It looks like wastage of public money to me,” VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh said while talking about the growing demand for a CBI probe into the hit-and-run case involving a police escort vehicle.
“When the VPP filed a case against a hate speech by the Education Minister nothing came out of it. We had filed a number of cases against people for misusing the freedom of speech and expression through doctoring of documents and creating false news but nothing has happened,” he said.
Reiterating that a CBI inquiry will not be of much use, he said, “The question is can the case be handed over to the CBI for investigation? Even if that is possible you will find that at the national level even the probe agencies have received criticism from the Judiciary.”
