Opposition leader Dr Mukul Sangma leveled explosive allegations today that family members of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Power Minister James Sangma had interfered in a criminal investigation against a company that has ties to the brothers’ family firm by getting police officers in charge of the case transferred.
At a press conference today, Dr Sangma claimed that one IFA Enterprise Call Centre, which rented offices in the building of SS Netcom, had participated in an international phone scam whereby it defrauded people in the USA by claiming to represent that country’s tax authorities, known as the Internal Revenue Service.
SS Netcom is linked to Conrad and James, whose mother Soradini K Sangma is listed as Managing Director. Conrad’s wife, Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, is also a director of the company, which is headquartered in the Dhanketi here.
SS Netcom is involved in computer-related activities and owns the popular NEline, an internet service provider.
Today Dr Sangma said that in 2017, while he was still Chief Minister, police began investigating IFA Enterprise Call Centre for the phone scam. However, some time later Inspector MN Khan and Sub-Inspector Pintu Das, of Laitumkhrah Police Station, were transferred. Their transfers were disturbing to senior police officers like Davis NR Marak, who was then East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police and who protested the move in a letter to Deputy Inspector General AR Mawthoh.
The letter, which Dr Sangma read out, went on to say that all police officers had the feeling that the transfers could have been because of the high profile case Khan and Das were investigating.
The former CM also said that, besides renting out office space to a disreputable company, SS Netcom had also recruited job seekers from Meghalaya and around the North East to receive training by IFA in Gujarat, where they were given instruction in how to carry out the latter’s fraudulent activity.
“They (those behind SS Netcom) have tampered with the whole process of investigation and they tried to force the police to submit an incomplete charge-sheet in court without completing the process of investigation and without going through proper investigations,” Dr Sangma said, adding that he did not interfere in the case before because he had belief in the judiciary and in the administration of justice.
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition also demanded the state government to immediately call a meeting of the State Security Commission (SSC) to answer questions on the transfers of the police officers concerned.
