Khliehriat, Aug 21: Vigilante action to check on the antecedents of outsiders entering Meghalaya led to at least one accident that left a man seriously injured.
The East Jaintia Hills District Tourist Drivers’ Association and members of Iatyllilang Drivers and Tourist Taxi Association, who ferry passengers from Lad Rymbai to Guwahati, today expressed concern over certain groups conducting checking in secluded areas in Ri-Bhoi.
The groups said that such checking often creates fear in the drivers and passengers and can be dangerous.
The president of Iatyllilang Drivers and Tourist Taxi Association, Happy Rymbai, pointed out that one night there was a passenger who was injured after he was hit by another vehicle passing through Ri-Bhoi district because certain individuals were conducting checks.
“They asked them to get out of the vehicle and during such time suddenly another car passed by and hit him and he was seriously injured,” Rymbai said.
The anti-infiltration unit of the state police have their designated checkposts but these vigilantes have set up their own spots in secluded areas where they demand money from drivers and/or passengers.
Yesterday, police announced that it had arrested five members of the Hynñiewtrep National Youth Movement (HNYM) for alleged extortion of vehicle occupants passing through Ri-Bhoi. The police were acting on a complaint by tourist taxi drivers of East Jaintia Hills.
According to the drivers’ associations, they had no idea that the vigilantes were leaders in the HNYM.
