Shillong, Feb 27: Leader of the Opposition Dr Mukul Sangma has criticised the state government in its handling of the police.
Dr Sangma was Chief Minister between 2010 and 2018 when militancy was broadly ended in Meghalaya, through negotiation or the crushing of rebel groups.
Expressing fears that militants could be regrouping, Dr Sangma said that he has heard reports of men with sophisticated arms moving through his constituency of Songsak.
He told the house that when he had been CM, solid intelligence led the government to fund the expansion of Special Force 10, the anti-insurgency branch of the police.
He said that SF-10 personnel are specially trained to be able to deal with a situation that was confronting the state and that Meghalaya subsequently benefited from it.
Now these personnel are seen controlling traffic, with the time and resources invested on their training wasted, he added, and the government does not consider that the need for a special force still exists.
Dr Sangma wanted to know how many personnel are being retained in the SF-10 and how many have been transferred to other branches of the police.
The Leader of the Opposition also said that he has had inputs of police officers engaging in illegalities and brought it to the notice of the concerned authorities and action was taken. Another issue he raised is the alleged mushrooming of illegal tollgates on the highways. These, Dr Sangma said, had been removed under his watch but are sprouting again.
