Shillong, Sep 2: The Meghalaya High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which police handled the Khasi Students Union (KSU) bike rally that led to vandalism and assaults in the city, observing that the procession ought not to have been allowed to proceed after clear breaches of permission conditions.
A bench of Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh while hearing a PIL on Tuesday, noted that participants were wearing masks and covering their faces despite an undertaking by the organisers that they would not, were carrying sticks/lathis in violation of clause 8, and had covered vehicle number plates.
“We find that, if at the outset before the rally proceeded, if the same was stopped by the police for breach of these conditions on which the permission was granted, the incident would not have snowballed into what took place thereafter i.e., destruction of vehicles/property and assault on people,” the court said.
Advocate General Amit Kumar informed the court that 22 FIRs have been registered — four at Sadar, nine at Rynjah, seven at Mawlai, one each at Laitumkhrah and Lumdiengjri. Four office bearers of KSU have been arrested, two vehicles seized, call detail records of eight suspected numbers and CCTV footage from 27 locations collected and are being analysed.
The court also perused case diaries relating to damage to two High Court vehicles and attack on a PSO and driver.
“We also find it strange that when there were hundreds of miscreants involved in the procession, the police have been able to identify only four out of the hundreds who participated in the rally. We expect the police to identify the miscreants at the earliest and take the investigation to its logical end, so that the miscreants who assaulted/caused damage to property are not spared,” it said.
The court directed the SIT constituted under IGP DNR Marak to take prompt steps to identify miscreants who paralysed the city, vandalised statues and assaulted public. It also sought to know whether videography of the rally was done, whether police intervened to stop the assaults, and whether directions of the 2018 Supreme Court judgment to curb mob lynching and hate crimes were followed.
The court has asked the IGP Marak, East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police and officers in charge of Sadar and Lumdiengjri police stations to remain present at the next hearing on September 7, along with a fresh status report.
