Mawhati MDC, Charles Margnar has stated that Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has no regards for the people and his statement that the case of the arrest youth from Meghalaya cannot be transferred shows that the government has accepted and surrendered the disputed areas to Assam.
“Rymbui told me that the three youth have been produced to a court in Assam and the case cannot be transferred. I’m not a lawyer but I know that producing any arrested person in the court is for remand and not for trial. Even if it is in the trial stage it can be transferred for justice to prevail,” he said, adding, that if such a statement comes from the Home Minister, then how the government can streamline the boundary issue with Assam.
Marngar said that since the incident occurred in a disputed area, the Assam police should have handed over the three to Meghalaya police on the same day they were arrested.
“They arrested the three about 3km away from the bridge without any proof and did not hand them over to the Meghalaya police but took them away, which is nothing but pure suppression while our government persists in remaining silent,” he said.
The MDC said that he had inspected the area and there were no signs of an attempt to burn down the bridge. He also said that Brom Surong a resident of Khliehumamang had witnessed and given his statement that on April 10. He said the three were arrested when Surong was returning from a prayer service at Ummat village and when he reached Umpaklong at around 5 pm he met the three accused persons while they were returning from a jungle collecting caterpillars called ‘Niangkseh’, a delicacy of the people there.
“Surong’s vehicle slipped on that specific place due to rough road and it was the three accused persons who helped to push his vehicle. It was until around 8 pm that day that they were able to free his vehicle from the place where it slipped,” he said, adding that Surong also narrated that the three accused persons were arrested a few minutes after they managed to help him free his vehicle stuck on the road.
Surong also informed that the three accused persons gave him about a quarter kg of niangkseh and he saw that they were carrying only a small dao along with traditional carry bags.
On April 10, Assam police arrested the three Khasi men from Sabuda in Ri-Bhoi for allegedly attempting to burn down the Umler Bridge. The three were then taken to Assam for interrogation. Although the Assam police informed their Meghalaya counterparts about the arrest, Marngar said that the latter was not allowed to even get a statement from the three youths.
Sabuda lies in the disputed border region between the two states.
The three arrested persons have been placed in judicial custody and Marngar wants the state government to push for the case to be transferred to Meghalaya.
Marngar has requested the Meghalaya government to intercede on the matter but with no response to date.
After attempts to raise the issue fell on deaf ears, the Congress MDC managed to get in touch with Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on April 14 but the Home Minister said that the case cannot be transferred to Meghalaya.
