Meghalaya government seeks reports on arrest of East Garo Hills DTO by Assam Police

The arrest of the East Garo Hills District Transport Officer (DTO) on allegations of being part of a racket doing falsification of vehicle documents has caused concern among officials in the Meghalaya state government. On May 15, Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Transport, Sniawbhalang Dhar, said that the government was seeking reports on the arrest from the Assam Police.

The DTO, Genekelly G Momin, was arrested by Assam Police on Sunday in a raid at his office in Williamnagar. Circle Inspector Siraj Ingti and Officer in charge of the Agia Police Station, Manimoy Tamuly, led the police team, which had been investigating the falsification of vehicle documents in the region.

The arrest has raised questions about the transparency and accountability of transport offices in the state. Dhar acknowledged that there was a need for transparency in the functioning of the transport offices and said, "Obviously everything should be transparent and if there is anything irregular and only when we get a complaint we can take action accordingly."

However, he refused to comment on whether Momin would be suspended from his post as DTO. "I am yet to get the exact information on the incident. Let me get the information first on what has happened so I will be able to inform you," the minister said.

According to the police, Momin was part of a nexus that was running a business of falsifying documents for various vehicles, which failed to register. They allege that the gang was re-registering these vehicles in Meghalaya by tampering with the chassis number and other important details.