SHILLONG, OCT 5: Alleging a “traumatic” midnight crackdown in Jaiaw, North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum has demanded an independent CBI investigation into the police operation carried out on August 19, citing indiscriminate tear gas shelling near a hospital, masked personnel without nameplates, and abusive conduct.
In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home Prestone Tynsong on Monday, Nongrum said the state must order a transparent inquiry or he will be forced to move higher legal and constitutional forums. The dossier has been forwarded to eight authorities including the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, DGP and the NHRC and SHRC.
The MLA said his dossier is backed by a field representation from Seng Samla Jaiaw Pyllun (SSJP), which was present on the ground during the raid.
As per SSJP’s report, around 15 rounds of tear gas were fired in a densely populated lane adjoining H. Gordon Roberts Hospital, putting patient wards at risk and causing panic and acute breathing difficulty among residents.
Nongrum told the media that traditional coordination mechanisms were bypassed.
“Our traditional community coordination frameworks were completely bypassed. Heavily armed men entered our neighborhood at midnight, completely masked, lacking visible nameplates, and refusing to produce any statutory search orders or legal notices,” he said.
He also alleged that video footage from the spot shows personnel using obscene gestures, hurling profanities at SSJP executive members, and physically charging at local youth.
“This residential area is not an active battlefield, and treating our citizens with such unprovoked hostility is entirely unacceptable,” he said.
The memorandum highlights a contradiction — while police were allegedly absent during a disruptive Black Flag Bike Rally in the daytime on August 19, a large masked force was mobilised at midnight for a residential raid.
The accompanying legal brief cites penal violations under the Meghalaya Police Act, 2010 — Section 55 (public decorum and disclosure), Section 109 (unlawful midnight entry and personal violence) and Section 108 (dereliction of duty), each attracting up to six months’ jail — and also alleged contempt of the Supreme Court’s D.K. Basu directives.
Referring to the 2018 Them Iew Mawlong unrest, Nongrum said localities under 17-North Shillong had witnessed similar indiscriminate firing of tear gas and metal projectiles.
“Multiple Khasi youths suffered permanent, life-altering trauma including individuals who permanently lost their noses due to direct canister impacts, individuals who permanently lost some of their body parts due to shell explosions, and numerous citizens wounded by pellet guns,” he said, adding that no compensation or rehabilitation has been given so far.
“A routine internal departmental inquiry or a standard police SIT is completely insufficient when the integrity of the law enforcement machinery itself is the subject of dispute,” Nongrum said, demanding a CBI probe, compensation for 2018 victims and action against errant personnel under the Meghalaya Police Act.
