Mukul Sangma on his refusal of the charges by the Chief Minister today termed the reply of the National People’s Party (NPP) on the IRS scam as a “diversionary tactic”. He said that the matter should not be taken as a personal attack as it somehow happened inside their premises.
He added, “We are talking about important instance of a case which was registered in 2017. Let us not mix it up. The issue is to ensure that the whole process of the investigation is done properly and there is no attempt to derail the whole process of investigation”.
“I don’t think the IFA employees are his relatives why are they scared? IFA is a fictitious company not registered under companies Act, therefore they are criminals and he should not be concerned and the chief minister must rather be happy that yes we must go after them and put them where they belong to as per the process of law,” he claimed.
Sangma said, “During our time if anywhere there was any omission or commission or any interference in posting or transfer we have intervened to ensure that the process of law under no circumstances is influence or derailed”.
“Our job is to tell the government, please do not do this now. If that letter has come to my knowledge and this whole development has come to my knowledge does the Chief Minister expect me to keep quiet?” Mukul questioned.
The Leader of the Opposition said, “It is not my interpretation. Unfortunately SS Netcom belongs to the chief minister and his brother. What I am saying is irrespective of who may be the owner of the premises or the organizations. Let the law take its own course. Why are they afraid or why are they concerned?”
He said that it is the duty of the state government that they should not do anything that breaks the whole procedure of case and investigation.
Even the SP was transferred after the letter to the DIG was written by him. Sangma questioned, “It is not just the investigating officer alone but the SP was also transferred. Is it normal? Why was he transferred after the letter?”
Sangma said that according to the Meghalaya Police Act 2010 no officer can be transferred at the according of the ministers or the DGP alone cannot do the transfer. There is a due process governed by the Act and it is an offshoot of administrative reform which is in observation of the Supreme Court that police must be insulated from all other likely external forces in order to ensure that the administrative of justice is in no way influenced by anybody.
The former chief minister exclaimed that the concern was of a large scale as the fake call centres targeted citizens of other country and that it involves training the youths for criminal activities. “They are the youth of the North East. Who are training them? Where are they being trained? Has any process of investigation gone that far? So many questions and how did they say that the investigation is over?” Mukul said.
“Who are the victims, where was the money deposited? Tracking has to be done and everything has to be unearthed. Where is the investigation,” he questioned.
Pointing two employees of SS Netcom were arrested; he said that they are the employees of the IFA who they claim to have been the agency who take the premises on rent basis.
Stating that “it is our job to ensure that Meghalaya does not become a hub of this criminal activity”, he said, “Lot of banking transaction in relation to this case does not confine only in SS Netcom and Meghalaya. It goes beyond; therefore investigation has to go beyond”.
The Leader of the Opposition said, “Why it should be personal attack? Is it something new? That instance of arrest which is in course of an investigation is a natural process. Have I told the police to go to SS Netcom premises? It is the natural consequence because the crime was committed in the premises”.
He said, “It may be very uncomfortable for the chief minister that it happened in their premises or the premises owned by them; it does not matter if they are completely clean as they will be insulated; they just have to trust the process of law.”
While replying to a query, the chief minister in the Marvelene’s Inn rape case replied, “That is a diversionary tactic. You have seen in the Assembly how they have diverted everything; now this diversionary tactic is not going to dilute the issue.”