The Kenche’s Trace, Oxford, and Rilbong dorbar is unaware of the antecedents of inmates in the shelter home in the city that was revealed to be a drug den.
KOR rangbah shnong G. Lyngdoh said that the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) never communicated about the shelter home, which is under its lookout, to the dorbar.
Lyngdoh said that earlier the dorbar shnong members came to know about it when some illicit activities were detected there and were told by the caretaker of the shelter home that the people living there were brought during the Covid pandemic.
“We thought that the shelter home was a temporary arrangement by the SMB. We have also written to the board to relocate the shelter home somewhere since it is a residential area. But we never got any response till the latest incident that had happened again recently,” he told Highland Post.
Lyngdoh said that the SMB should immediately relocate the shelter home from the area or at least provide security personnel till the relocation takes place.
The rangbah shnong also said that the executive committee of the dorbar will soon sit for a meeting to take necessary call on the matter.
The Laban circle of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) has raised further concerns regarding the shelter home in the city that was revealed to be a drug den, claiming that it is a haven of prostitution and other crimes.
On December 28, the KSU Laban circle and police raided the shelter home after a viral video emerged of people consuming illegal drugs there. Though the building was empty of people when the raid took place, plenty of drug paraphernalia was found at the scene.
The KSU also said that some of the residents staying at the shelter instead of being homeless and poor, have stable jobs and own cars.
The matter was also raised by the union with the Chief Executive Officer of the SMB who said that the shelter home “has become a booming site for prostitution”.
Drug and alcohol consumption as well as prostitution could take place there because the SMB did not have “guidelines, inspections or a caretaker” to keep check on those inside the facility.
The KSU also said that the dorbar shnong had never given permission to the SMB to run the place as a shelter home.
