SHILLONG, NOV 10: East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem has stated that there is no pressure to release the arrested leaders of the Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners & Drivers Association (MCTODA).
The leaders, arrested during an incident at Mawryngkneng junction, face four cases, including stone pelting and damage to vehicles.
The bail decision rests with the judiciary, Syiem told reporters on Monday.
“The leaders were the people who were right in front in that agitation and when all these crimes were committed out there, they were people at the forefront,” he said while adding that the law will take its own course.
Syiem explained that the crowd had been warned by the magistrate on duty not to obstruct truck movement, but they resorted to violence, prompting police to use mild lathi charge.
The SP dismissed allegations of police excesses, stating that the action was minimal and necessary to restore order.
“The crowd out there were actually informed by the magistrate on duty to not obstruct the movement trucks and they were properly and clearly informed not to obstruct but however when the trucks came and we escorted them, there was huge pelting of stones and there was assault, there was a person abducted and what happened was there was mayhem and violence out there for which police had to resort to mild lathi charge, it is not that we floated any norms and also that there were excesses from the police as it was very minimal,” he stated.
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