Shillong, Sept 7: There is a continuous resentment seen among the leaders of the voice of the people of Mawlai and also the representative of the Constituency, PT Sawkmie over the delay in suspending the Meghalaya top cops involved in the operation of killing ex HNLC leader Cherishterfield Thangkhiew.

While Sawkmie has appreciated the Governor’s remark terming the incident as unfortunate, he said, “As an MLA of Mawlai constituency, I’m happy that even the Governor has called the incident unfortunate. I felt the Governor has also realised whatever the police department has done on August 13 taking the life of an ex HNLC leader. Though I appreciate whatever the Governor has said and feels that he understands the ground reality, that whatever the case maybe, the police should not take the life of a person like that. They should have tried to arrest and interrogate,” said Sawkmie.

He urged the chief minister to understand the seriousness of this case, since even the head of the state has called it unfortunate.

“I urge the CM not to embarrass the government and disappoint his colleague. And Assembly session will soon be held and the killing of Cherishterfield will be a major issue in the upcoming session,” said Sawkmie.

Supporting the voice of the people of Mawlai, Sawkmie urged the CM to suspend the top cops since the issue is getting heated day by day and is always on the headline.
“By taking time of not suspending the cops many agitations will happen and the government is damaging their image and so the government should try to repair the damage by suspending them,” added Sawkmie.

Minister draws flak

On the other hand a Cabinet Minister Renikton Tongkhar drew flak after a news report emerged claiming that he would not sign the support letter to the demand of the ‘Voice of the people of Mawlai’.

For the past few days the organisation has been meeting with 35 MLAs from Khasi and Jaintia region seeking their support to sign a letter demanding for the suspension of the top cops involved in the killing – SP of East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills and SP traffic.

Tongkhar on Tuesday clarified that he did not refuse to sign but will consult with his MDA colleagues. He added that he has assured the NGOs the government is taking this issue seriously.

“I have respectfully requested them since we are a coalition we will do things together. I can’t take decisions alone hence I requested them to wait. I want to clarify I have not refused to sign, it is still under consideration. We have not taken it lightly and govt is trying to find ways to ensure that judicial inquiry report should be fair,” said Tongkhar.

He added that they will try their best to ensure that the inquiry and report will be fair without any influences. “I’ve asked them to wait since we will meet the chief minister and we will discuss how to go about and meet the aspirations of the people of Mawlai and also people from other region,” mentioned Tongkhar.