Shillong, Aug 22: Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang today admitted that infiltration by illegal migrants is becoming a bigger problem but assured the public that strict checking is happening along both the western and eastern borders of Meghalaya.
Police are working in close coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) to keep migrants and criminal elements from Bangladesh in check, the state’s top cop said. Many meetings have been held and more mobile check posts have been set up by both the BSF and state police to stop infiltration.
This step comes at a time when Assam has been carrying out major eviction drives in recent months that ostensibly target illegal settlers, though opposition parties and human rights groups have questioned whether it is strictly unbiased.
Meanwhile, some pressure groups in Meghalaya have warned that they will take action themselves if the government fails to stop infiltration.
Responding to these warnings, Nongrang said, “It’s a free country – people can say what they want. But if anyone takes the law into their own hands, then the law will deal with them.”
Although the work of the pressure groups is often presented as acts of protecting the indigenous society, this past week saw police arrest five members of a particular organisation for allegedly extorting money from commercial taxi drivers who were ferrying passengers between East Jaintia Hills and Guwahati. The pressure group was ostensibly carrying out anti-infiltration checks but also profiting, allegedly, from them.
