The Meghalaya police have condemned the “false, fabricated, scurrilous and totally unverified allegations” published in the local media about the raid that led to the death of ex-militant leader Cherishterfield Thangkhiew last month.
According to a letter purportedly signed by three ex-police officers, which was printed by certain newspapers today, “two senior IPS officers”, Jagpal Singh Dhanoa and Shailendra Bamaniya, “had gone to kill Thangkhiew without any evidence on the order of DGP (Director General of Police) R Chandranathan and IGP (Inspector General of Police) Mukesh Kumar Singh”. The letter also claimed that the DGP has pending cases against him from his time in Assam and that the IGP was responsible for the fake encounter of Fullmoon Dhar.
The police rubbished all of this, justifying its raid on Thangkhiew’s home by claiming that he was involved in terrorist attacks in the run-up to his death, was planning further attacks “in heavily populated areas in Shillong” and was involved in extortion.
Police also said that the role of Thangkhiew was also unearthed in the extortion demands received by MDCs and prominent businessmen. “The evidence available pointed to modus operandi of Thangkhiew of undertaking extortion demands and using money received for financing IED explosions at the behest of HNLC under the cover of being a ‘retired’ HNLC operative,” police said.
Such was the case against him that it would not have been possible to serve a notice to Thangkhiew to make himself available for questioning as that might have led him to destroy evidence and/or abscond, the police added.
“The decision for his arrest was taken at the highest level in consultation with all senior officers of the department and after evaluation of all options and was considered necessary to prevent large scale loss of life in further IED explosions,” the police said in a press release today.
The authorities also defended their use of deadly force against Thangkhiew, saying that the latter was uncooperative with the police involved in the raid and had made a “clear attempt … to assault and cause fatal injury to a member of the police team”. Far from wanting him dead, the police had been keen to interrogate him and thereby gain further information on HNLC activities.
