Shillong, May 27: The West Garo Hills police today issued a clarification regarding the registration of cases linked to the alleged vandalism incident at Chibinang on March 9.
According to a press release issued by the Superintendent of Police, Abraham T Sangma, a joint FIR was lodged on March 18 by the joint secretary of the Garo Students’ Union’s Chibinang regional unit and the general secretary of GSU Phulbari regional unit against former MLA of Phulbari constituency, SG Esmatur Mominin, in connection with alleged criminal offences that reportedly took place at Chibinang. The complaint also mentioned the alleged vandalisation of the GSU office and a statue at Chibinang Bazar.
Based on the FIR, Phulbari PS Case No. 12/2026 was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, along with provisions of the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order Act. Police stated that the accused persons have already been arrested and investigation into the case is underway.
The release further informed that on April 14 another complaint related to the same incident was received from Bernard N Marak, the MDC for Tura. The complaint was subsequently forwarded to the officer in charge of Phulbari Police Station for necessary action.
Since both complaints relate to the same incident and set of facts, the complaint submitted by Marak has been treated as supplementary to the already registered Phulbari PS Case No. 12/2026 as multiple FIRs cannot ordinarily be registered for the same occurrence and any subsequent information must form part of the investigation in the original case.
The police further stated that all enquiries and investigation related to the incident are being carried out under the existing registered case in accordance with legal procedures, and necessary action will be taken against those found involved based on evidence collected during investigation.
The clarification was issued to avoid misunderstanding or confusion regarding the registration of multiple FIRs in connection with the same incident and to keep the public properly informed.
