By Our Reporter
Shillong: The peace has been shattered once again in Resubelpara and Mendipather region of East Garo Hills following the killing of a high school science teacher Denybirth G Momin by GNLA militants on the same night in which two other civilians were executed at Rongrong area.
What has raised concern among the public is the near total failure of police forces manning the Resubelpara civil sub-division in preventing innocents from falling prey to the bullets of militants.
The reason appears to be political more than bureaucratic. Political interference is believed to have led to the shunting out of ‘effective’ officers from the sub-division only to be replaced by inept officials for which innocent civilians are paying the price.
The last time Resubelpara had a series of success stories was during the tenure of the last MPS Sub-Divisional police officer who went hammer and thongs against the ultras forcing them to retreat to areas as far off as Songsak.
Highly placed sources from police headquarters in Shillong indicate that the State Government was ‘compelled’ to push out the state cadre officer to make room for the incumbent IPS officer in Resubelpara. The MPS officer was shunted out to join the 4th MLP Battalion based at Nongstoin.
There were more heads to roll in the following months as one of the core intelligence officers of the state police operating in Mendipather region was also transferred out to a uniformed job in West Garo Hills district.
The former Meghalaya DGP S B Kakoti in his meeting with the political bosses had strongly opposed the transfer of the officer given his track record but the curt reply allegedly given by those wielding the power was, “How many ULFA, NDFB militants has he arrested during his tenure?”
Sadly, they failed to realise that the danger was lying nearer home.
The intelligence officer was replaced by another member of the force who is currently serving as both the circle inspector and the officer in charge of the Mendipather police station and is known for a dubious track record.
“Genuine officers who can break the backbone of militancy are being made to warm the benches in Shillong police headquarters while officers who are more prone to collection than performance are being given a look in,” inform police sources.
The present district Superintendent of Police in East Garo Hills has also been unable to contain the militant violence where the militant crime chart far exceeds the success story of the security forces.
Since the beginning of the year there have been a series of militant related cases where no breakthrough has been made. Militants in East Garo Hills kidnapped railway project manager Ganeshyam Das near Mendipather on January 16 and two young Garo boys identified as Pak Momin and Engti Marak were executed by GNLA militants in Resubelpara region on the same night.
On January 24th heavily armed GNLA militants attacked the homes of three ANVC cadres in Mendipather but were unsuccessful in getting their targets. They later shot dead one John Ch Marak on the road to Resubelpara at Gajing on February 15.
Ever since then, the militants have been running amok perpetrating one crime after another ranging from the attacks on surrendered cadres homes in Bansam Awe and even burning down several coal laden trucks near Wageasik bridge in Dainadubi. Most recently the outfit has executed one villager after another on the suspicion of being police sympathisers.
