SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who is in charge of the Home (Police) department, has made a resolute promise to end extortion in Meghalaya.
He has assured that the department is actively working to eliminate all forms of illegal collection and extortion in the state.
“We are on the job, and we will ensure that there is no illegal collection or extortion,” Tynsong stated firmly on Wednesday. He stressed that nobody should be exempt from the law, irrespective of their gender, association with pressure groups, or any other factor.
“Be it men or women or pressure groups or anybody, I request that we should not cross the boundary line. Whether you say it is extortion or any illegalities, my request is please, respect the law,” he told the press.
Tynsong’s statement comes in the wake of the recent arrest of Bless Dkhar, the president of the Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) East Khasi Hills District.
Dkhar was apprehended for allegedly being involved in illegal collections from overloaded trucks passing through the Umiam Bridge.
Addressing the role of pressure groups and civic society organisations, Tynsong noted that it’s up to them to provide clarification when individuals are arrested for criminal activities.
“We cannot say anything on whether he belongs to which group or village. We arrest gangs for their involvement in criminal activities,” he explained.
Dkhar, who was arrested in Pohkseh, was presented before a lower court on October 31 and subsequently remanded to three days of police custody.
This incident is not an isolated case in the state, as just days earlier, on October 26, the East Khasi Hills Police arrested four individuals in Police Bazar for serving extortion notes to a shop.
The police had received information about extortion activities in commercial areas and acted on it, leading to the arrests.
Superintendent of Police (City) Vivek Syiem had told the press that a suo motu case has been registered at Sadar Police Station for extortion against the four individuals.
In the process, the police also confiscated various items from their possession, including extortion letters from Hynniewtrep People Defense Alliance, donation receipt books from United Khasi Movement and Federation of Khasi United People, among others. A scooty and four mobile phones were also seized as part of the operation, he had informed.
