SHILLONG, Aug 31: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday decided to explore the legal route to seek an independent inquiry into the arrest of its state vice president and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak.

At the same time, the party also demanded the state government to immediately suspend Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police (A) GK Iangrai  for his alleged involvement in the misuse of 29 vehicles and pave the way for a CBI inquiry into the matter.

In a statement, BJP leader and state executive member Pawan Sharma criticized the government for the manner in which Bernard Marak’s case has been handled. “As reported in media, the action of police officials who forced women to label themselves as sex workers is highly disturbing,” he alleged.

Alleging that political vendetta seems the most likely motive with blatant use of state machinery to achieve it, Sharma said, “Having no options left, we shall explore the legal route to seek an independent inquiry.”

BJP seeks suspension of AIG GK Iangrai

On the other hand, Sharma stated that GK Iangrai’s alleged corruption within the police department has hit the people of Meghalaya hard and that they have lost all faith in the government.

“A CBI inquiry should be initiated at the earliest to look into the charges, as how can the Police Department itself investigate such a major charge.The government, if it has any morality left, should immediately suspend GK langrai,” he said.

The BJP leader said however in Bernard’s case it has pressed new charges to throttle his political career.

Stating that it was interesting for the party to see the press statements issued by the West Garo Hills SP, Sharma said the SP blamed Bernard for price rise while forgetting that there are many factors which lead to hike in essential commodities.