BJP to seek legal course for independent inquiry into Bernard Marak case, demands suspension of Iangrai

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 1, 2022

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 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 has 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 said.

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.”

“As stated by the SP, only a single media house was granted permission to access the area cordoned off by the police and this media house is run by a close relative of the Chief Minister, speaks volumes of his direct involvement in the matter and the biased approach,” he alleged.

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.

“It seems directives are clearly from superiors in the state hierarchy,” he alleged while adding “On the one hand Bernard’s and his wife’s bank account have been frozen while GK Iangrai is roaming freely and has been allowed to handle the elite SF 10 force.”

“Such glaring misuse of power has become a norm in this present day government and corruption a part and parcel of its governance,” he further added.