Tag: Meghalaya Police

  • Meghalaya: Contractual teachers continue to protest demanding reinstatement of service

    By PTI

    SHILLONG: Protests by contractual teachers outside the Meghalaya secretariat here demanding the reinstatement of service continued on Friday, a day after the police action against them to stop them from storming the secretariat.

    The Meghalaya police facing criticism for teargassing and lathi-charging the teachers on Thursday defended bursting tear gas shells.

    “We had to use mild force and burst tear gas shells to stop the agitators from storming the secretariat, a place where Section 144 CrPC is in force,” city superintendent of police Vivek Syiem told PTI on Friday.

    He flatly denied that police had lathi-charged the teachers and injured some of them when they stormed the secretariat on Thursday accompanied by their family members, children and members of social organisations.

    Pregnant women teachers were reportedly among the agitators and the police action against them has drawn severe criticism from all quarters.

    Opposition TMC has condemned the incident.

    Party leader and Opposition Chief Whip George B Lyngdoh said “The government has gone deaf and dumb. I think it is the collective responsibility of the entire cabinet to ensure safety and to provide livelihood”.

    Hundreds of teachers under the banner of Meghalaya Government Lower Primary Contractual Teachers Association are pressing for reinstatement in their jobs.

    The services of over 800 of them had been terminated two years ago for failing to clear the Meghalaya Teachers Eligibility Test.

    They have been staging their indefinite protest at Barik, about 200 meters away from the secretariat for the past one month.

    The agitating teachers refused to meet the state government and asked the district magistrates on the ground to convey the message that they will only call off their agitation if the government issued an order for reinstatement.

    They have returned invitations of the state Education Minister Lakhmen Rymbui for talks on Friday evening and chief secretary D P Wahlang for talks.

    The Association leader Birbor Riangtem has said, “Our clear message to the government is if it wants us to call off this agitation, it should order reinstatement of our services as we want to go back to our schools”.

    He said the Association has met Chief Minister Conrad Sangma seven times but there has been no positive outcome even after two years.

    There has been no communication from the government that it will come up with an alternative solution to resolve the issue of contractual teachers.

    Riangtem condemned the “highhandedness of the police” in bursting tear gas shells.

    “Using tear gas is a violation of our human rights. We are not terrorists, we are teachers. We were marching peacefully but the police and district administration blocked us and started bursting tear gas shells despite being informed about the presence of our children and pregnant teachers”.

    SHILLONG: Protests by contractual teachers outside the Meghalaya secretariat here demanding the reinstatement of service continued on Friday, a day after the police action against them to stop them from storming the secretariat.

    The Meghalaya police facing criticism for teargassing and lathi-charging the teachers on Thursday defended bursting tear gas shells.

    “We had to use mild force and burst tear gas shells to stop the agitators from storming the secretariat, a place where Section 144 CrPC is in force,” city superintendent of police Vivek Syiem told PTI on Friday.

    He flatly denied that police had lathi-charged the teachers and injured some of them when they stormed the secretariat on Thursday accompanied by their family members, children and members of social organisations.

    Pregnant women teachers were reportedly among the agitators and the police action against them has drawn severe criticism from all quarters.

    Opposition TMC has condemned the incident.

    Party leader and Opposition Chief Whip George B Lyngdoh said “The government has gone deaf and dumb. I think it is the collective responsibility of the entire cabinet to ensure safety and to provide livelihood”.

    Hundreds of teachers under the banner of Meghalaya Government Lower Primary Contractual Teachers Association are pressing for reinstatement in their jobs.

    The services of over 800 of them had been terminated two years ago for failing to clear the Meghalaya Teachers Eligibility Test.

    They have been staging their indefinite protest at Barik, about 200 meters away from the secretariat for the past one month.

    The agitating teachers refused to meet the state government and asked the district magistrates on the ground to convey the message that they will only call off their agitation if the government issued an order for reinstatement.

    They have returned invitations of the state Education Minister Lakhmen Rymbui for talks on Friday evening and chief secretary D P Wahlang for talks.

    The Association leader Birbor Riangtem has said, “Our clear message to the government is if it wants us to call off this agitation, it should order reinstatement of our services as we want to go back to our schools”.

    He said the Association has met Chief Minister Conrad Sangma seven times but there has been no positive outcome even after two years.

    There has been no communication from the government that it will come up with an alternative solution to resolve the issue of contractual teachers.

    Riangtem condemned the “highhandedness of the police” in bursting tear gas shells.

    “Using tear gas is a violation of our human rights. We are not terrorists, we are teachers. We were marching peacefully but the police and district administration blocked us and started bursting tear gas shells despite being informed about the presence of our children and pregnant teachers”.

  • Now, explosives recovered from arrested Meghalaya BJP leader’s farmhouse

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Meghalaya Police on Thursday recovered explosive materials from the farmhouse of arrested state BJP vice president Bernard Marak.

    The items recovered included 35 gelatin sticks, 100 detonators, four cross bows and 15 arrows.

    The farmhouse is located at Tura in the West Garo Hills district. The police had recovered 400 bottles of liquor and 500 packets of condom and contraceptive tablets among others during a raid at the private property last week. Five children were also rescued.

    Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Singh said a team of the district child protection unit and the police had gone to the farmhouse on Thursday to collect clothes and books of the rescued children.

    “During this exercise, they found one small door-like structure. When this door was broken open, the explosives and other weapons were recovered,” Singh told The New Indian Express.

    He also said that charges would be added under the Explosives Substances Act, 1908 against Marak.

    He said medical reports suggested one of the rescued children was sexually assaulted. The police registered a fresh FIR under POCSO Act following this revelation.

    Meanwhile, Marak, who was arrested in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, was brought to Tura on Thursday. The militant leader-turned-politician is a member of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council.

    GUWAHATI: Meghalaya Police on Thursday recovered explosive materials from the farmhouse of arrested state BJP vice president Bernard Marak.

    The items recovered included 35 gelatin sticks, 100 detonators, four cross bows and 15 arrows.

    The farmhouse is located at Tura in the West Garo Hills district. The police had recovered 400 bottles of liquor and 500 packets of condom and contraceptive tablets among others during a raid at the private property last week. Five children were also rescued.

    Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Singh said a team of the district child protection unit and the police had gone to the farmhouse on Thursday to collect clothes and books of the rescued children.

    “During this exercise, they found one small door-like structure. When this door was broken open, the explosives and other weapons were recovered,” Singh told The New Indian Express.

    He also said that charges would be added under the Explosives Substances Act, 1908 against Marak.

    He said medical reports suggested one of the rescued children was sexually assaulted. The police registered a fresh FIR under POCSO Act following this revelation.

    Meanwhile, Marak, who was arrested in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, was brought to Tura on Thursday. The militant leader-turned-politician is a member of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council.

  • Meghalaya Police arrests 11 members of newly formed militant outfit Achik National Socialist Council

    By PTI

    TURA: Eleven members of a newly formed militant outfit were arrested from Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district, police said. The police said on Friday said that the self-styled chairman of the outfit named Achik National Socialist Council, Chekam Ch Sangma was arrested from Hawakhana area of the district.

    “Chekham was picked up from Hawakhana on September 2 … He disclosed during interrogation that he formed the new group with another 25-30 like-minded people,” West Garo Hills SP Vivekanand Singh said in a statement.

    The SP said that 10 others were arrested over the last few days and two guns and a pistol were seized from their possession.

    Singh said that the group was apparently in the process of collecting weapons to start its operations with activities like kidnapping, extortion. “They were in the process of undergoing training after enough weapons were procured. A case has been filed in this regard and an investigation is currently underway,” the SP added.

    Many of the arrested persons were earlier associated with various militant groups in the Garo Hills hill region (consisting of five districts in Western Meghalaya).

  • ‘Assam Police may have instigated mob to attack us’, alleges injured Meghalaya DSP 

    By PTI

    SHILLONG: Meghalaya’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Firoz Rahman, who was severely injured in a mob attack at the state’s border with Assam, alleged on Saturday the Assam Police that was “battle-ready” sensing trouble in the area did not help him when he was assaulted, which may have been the result of instigation by some of its personnel.

    Rahman, posted in the Ri-Bhoi district, was dispatched by the district administration on Wednesday to oversee the situation at Umlaper, a day after local people had gheraoed a camp set up by the Assam Police.

    “Acting on an information that some trouble is brewing in the area, I and my team immediately left for that place. On reaching the disputed area, they (the mob) allowed us to enter but while coming back they blocked the road,” Rahman told PTI.

    He said he expected the Assam Police to provide cover but they did not respond to the calls for help.

    “They (Assam Police) were there but they did not respond to our calls for help. Local boys started assaulting us. The Nepalis and Karbi people came and started attacking me and my driver,” he said.

    At present, the police officer is recuperating at a private hospital in Shillong.

    On Tuesday, a team of the Ri-Bhoi Police and a contingent from Assam reached Umlaper after angry residents, mostly Khasis, dismantled a police camp set up in the area when two boys were beaten up the night before.

    Rahman and his team were sent to the area again on Wednesday following reports of fresh trouble. It was at that time that they were attacked.

    “They started assaulting us and my driver was thrown into the nearby paddy field. I somehow managed to run away for safety. If I hadn’t run away, they would’ve killed me!” he said.

    “There was no provocation from our side. In fact, the same people talked nicely to us on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, they assaulted us. I think some Assam Police personnel may have provoked the crowd, since they didn’t come when we sought their help,” he said.

    Rahman also pointed out that the Assam Police personnel were in full gear during the mob attack.

    “What was the intention (of the Assam Police) of wearing bulletproof jackets if they were not apprehending some trouble?” he said.

    “We tried to escape from the area but they (the mob) blocked our vehicle with some other vehicle. They hit me with a stone, and I got five-six stitches. My driver was also badly injured,” the police officer said.

    Assam and Meghalaya have at least 12 border flashpoints, including Umlaper.

    Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have jointly agreed to resolve the long-pending border issue between the two states, having met twice this year.

  • Cops retrieve weapons snatched by masked men during Shillong violence a from river

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The Meghalaya Police on Monday retrieved three INSAS rifles, which were snatched by the masked miscreants from three cops during the August 15 violence in Shillong, from a river.

    Two days ago, an anonymous letter sent to a media house had stated the weapons were tossed into the Umkhrah river. The Meghalaya Fire and Emergency Services carried out a search in the river based on this disclosure.

    A vernacular daily had reported about the letter, which was addressed to the chieftain of Mawlai Town Dorbar with copies sent to the local Superintendent of Police and media houses.

    Initially, the police did not take the letter seriously. The SP, Sylvester Nongtnger, had told mediapersons that “anyone can write an unsigned letter like that.”

    According to the letter, the weapons were tossed into the river from a bridge on the day the violence broke out in protest against the killing of a former insurgent leader by the police in an alleged fake encounter.

    ALSO READ | Gauhati HC grants bail to IIT student accused of raping girl, calls them ‘state’s future assets’

    The unidentified protestors had snatched away a police vehicle along with the weapons and moved around localities, brandishing the guns before setting the vehicle on fire. 

    The authorities had suspended three police personnel, who had lost the weapons, and appealed to the miscreants to return the weapons. The state government is currently initiating an inquiry against the suspended cops.

    “For a policeman, the arms and the weapons they carry are as good as the parts of their body. They should never ever let go of their weapon,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had stated after the incident.

    The manner in which the miscreants moved about in the car holding the weapons and black flags had drawn criticism with some describing it as a Taliban-like act. 

  • Cops retrieve weapons snatched by masked men during Shillong violence from river

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The Meghalaya Police on Monday retrieved three INSAS rifles, which were snatched by the masked miscreants from three cops during the August 15 violence in Shillong, from a river.

    Two days ago, an anonymous letter sent to a media house had stated the weapons were tossed into the Umkhrah river. The Meghalaya Fire and Emergency Services carried out a search in the river based on this disclosure.

    A vernacular daily had reported about the letter, which was addressed to the chieftain of Mawlai Town Dorbar with copies sent to the local Superintendent of Police and media houses.

    Initially, the police did not take the letter seriously. The SP, Sylvester Nongtnger, had told mediapersons that “anyone can write an unsigned letter like that.”

    According to the letter, the weapons were tossed into the river from a bridge on the day the violence broke out in protest against the killing of a former insurgent leader by the police in an alleged fake encounter.

    ALSO READ | Gauhati HC grants bail to IIT student accused of raping girl, calls them ‘state’s future assets’

    The unidentified protestors had snatched away a police vehicle along with the weapons and moved around localities, brandishing the guns before setting the vehicle on fire. 

    The authorities had suspended three police personnel, who had lost the weapons, and appealed to the miscreants to return the weapons. The state government is currently initiating an inquiry against the suspended cops.

    “For a policeman, the arms and the weapons they carry are as good as the parts of their body. They should never ever let go of their weapon,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had stated after the incident.

    The manner in which the miscreants moved about in the car holding the weapons and black flags had drawn criticism with some describing it as a Taliban-like act.