Perhaps unwilling to be slapped with a huge defamation suit, Shillong MP Ricky AJ Syngkon declined to comment too much on allegations of drug trafficking by Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar today but did say that there can be no smoke without fire.
The allegations that Dhar had profited from illegal coal mining and the drug trade were made by state Congress Party chief Vincent Pala, who claimed that when he had been Shillong MP he had been briefed on the matter by central government authorities. Dhar subsequently filed a defamation case against Pala.
“There can be no smoke without a fire. I leave it at that,” Syngkon said today, refusing to comment any further on the allegations.
Terming the drug menace in the state as a serious concern, Syngkon said that during his travels to every corner of his constituency he heard parents expressing their deep concern about the drug menace.
“Earlier, it was mostly in urban areas but now it has entered the remotest of places. This is something that, as a community and society, we need to fight as this concerns the future of our children and if not now when will we?” he added.
He called upon political parties, churches and the dorbar shnongs to come together to fight the drug menace and protect the future of the state. “We can do it. We have all the mechanisms in place if we want to fight,” Syngkon added.
