SHILLONG, Dec 4: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Sangma on Wednesday said the Police department should not be misused by anyone, including the political class, to settle personal scores.
He made the statement before the media after attending a meeting of the State Security Commission (SSC).
Stating that there are instances in the western part of the state where the police get influenced by political, social, external forces and also by people who organise cartels, he said there is an immediate need to put an end to this practice.
The Opposition leader expressed concern over people trying to take advantage of their proximity to authorities in the Police department as the level of police stations and police outposts. He said this leads to a situation where they end up abusing power.
According to Sangma, such reports are coming from the plain areas of Garo Hills. He said there are instances where good police officers got trapped in this vicious cycle of irregularities of abuse of power. He said this needs to be corrected.
Sangma flagged this issue at the SSC meeting which was held after a gap of several years.
He said instances where forces tend to influence the Police department and police officers to settle personal scores make people accuse the establishment of abusing power or creating a system of suppression and oppression.
He said if this trend is allowed to continue, whichever political parties come to power will look to do the same. He categorically stated that nobody should be allowed to misuse the force to create a sense of fear.
“Let us ensure that policing is not diluted by individual interests,” Sangma said.
Meanwhile, he said a large number of police stations and outposts are running with depleted manpower. He said the government must take note of this as such police stations can become a potential target of attack by any forces. He asked the government to fill up the vacant posts.
It was decided at the meeting that the SSC will meet once every three months.
