Retired senior police officer and now state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang today claimed that there are friends and family of VIPs who make use of their misused status unfairly and that the police should be given a free hand to crack down on them.
Kharkrang acknowledged that ministers need to be able to rush through traffic for important engagements but said that their family members and close associations often use sirens for their personal benefit.
The issue has come to the fore after the death of a biker, who died in a road traffic accident last week in a collision involving a police vehicle in the convoy of a minister. It has been claimed that this convoy was speeding through traffic in order to make it to the Cherry Blossom Festival, though a counter argument has emerged that puts the blame on the biker. Police are investigating.
Kharkrang suggested that the government allow police to go after anyone who is not entitled to VIP perks but takes advantage of them anyway.
Meanwhile, Kharkhrang said the accident that led to the death of Huddersfield Rymbui was very unfortunate. “Now different sides of the story are coming out. I think we should leave it to the investigating agency to find out the real facts. And we hope that the investigators will do the job well and find out what really happened.”
