Cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh today deflected the blame levelled against him and his convoy for the death of a youth en route to the Cherry Blossom Festival on Friday.
Terming the allegations as a “blatant lie” and claiming that the prevailing hit and run narrative was a concocted story, Lyngdoh explained that he was behind the Chief Minister’s convoy and they and other officials were all stuck in traffic and travelling at a snail’s pace.
Therefore, according to him, there could have been no possibility that a vehicle in his convoy could have been speeding when it collided with the victim, Huddersfield Rymbui, and his pillion rider, who was injured in the incident. Instead, Lyngdoh said that he had been told that it was the biker who collided with a vehicle in the convoy and was then hit by another vehicle. Rymbui was also going the wrong way, according to information the minister received.
Lyngdoh also said that, in this age of smartphones, a road accident, or at least its aftermath, caused by a police vehicle would have been recorded by citizens and shared on social media but this has not been the case thus far.
“There were thousands of road users, most of them were stuck and could not move. You would have had at least 30 to 40 people taking a video of the entire incident. None of that sort happened,” said the minister.
According to him, the intention of such an allegation is to attack the government and give it a bad name and perhaps tarnish the image of the festival. Asked if he suspects any political ploy behind these allegations, Lyngdoh said that at this stage, he would not rule out that possibility since there is a lot of malice that is being generated towards people who are in power.
The police vehicle involved in the accident is now under the possession of the Umiam police station while the investigation is ongoing. The security personnel have also been told to report and give their statements to the investigating officer.
Police investigating their own comrades, however, does not inspire confidence in certain sections.
Citizens group Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) has called for an independent and time-bound Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the “murder” of Rymbui.
“This inquiry cannot be conducted by the Meghalaya police because the murder accused belongs to Meghalaya police itself,” TUR said today. “This murder is an outcome of VIP and high level culture of impunity that allows the political and bureaucratic class of Meghalaya to ride roughshod over all democratic norms and rule of law.”
TUR claimed that restrictions on red beacons and sirens are “violated with impunity” in Meghalaya, with politicians, bureaucrats, their retinue and family members travelling in vehicles with tinted windows, “many with red beacons and sirens and police escorts”.
The Hynñiewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC) has also condemned so-called VIP culture in Meghalaya.
According to the pressure group, this VIP culture is increasingly becoming a source of concern and is causing inconvenience to the general public.
“The council firmly believes that the culture of privilege among elected representatives and officials including military personnel is detrimental to the principles of democracy, equality and transparency,” HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem said in a press statement today.
The HYC has called upon the Meghalaya government to take immediate action to curb this VIP culture by implementing policies that uphold fairness and equality amongst the citizens of the state.
The Council has also urged every citizen of Meghalaya to join hands and stand firm in rejecting this culture of elitism by these so-called VIPs and their close ones and to advocate for a more just and equal society.
Meanwhile, former spokesperson of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gregory Shullai has said that a more in-depth examination on the matter is needed.
Stating that even though Lyngdoh has given a fair clarification of what was really going on based on his perspective of how the convoy was progressing as compared to how it should have been, Shullai said that, naturally, a more in-depth examination is required in order to satisfy the public.
