Police Vehicles Misuse Row: Drawing Hasty conclusions is incorrect, says Meghalaya CM

The Meghalaya Government will institute an inquiry on the alleged misuse of 29 vehicles by Assistant Inspector General of Police (A) GK Iangrai if a suggestion comes from the Home and Police Department. 
 
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, CM Sangma said that the government will not shy away from instituting any inquiries and commissions. CM assured that the government will definitely take action as per the suggestions given by the home department and its officials. 
 
“So let the process continue (in this case)…any inquiry that has to be done, we will not shy away from that either, so there is no problem in that; we  will do what it takes,” he said adding “Obviously if there is anything wrong that has happened we will go ahead and put some inquiry into this thing.”
 
Sangma said that it is not right to just jump to a conclusion and start branding everything as a ‘scam’. “I have been mentioning this, again and again, it is not that we just started using big words into the entire process without understanding what happened inside it, so, if there is something wrong that happened, we will go ahead and put an inquiry”, said CM Sangma. 
 
“From the overall initial look of everything that was happening it looks like there were some issues that were concerning the allotment that took place, some delays, and some use or misuse of some areas but in principle, the procedures look to be in place that is what it looks like that’s what it looks like but of course, the department is going into the entire inquiry, go into the details and they will come out with their findings and as per to the suggestion given by the Home Department and Police, we will take action”, he added.
 
“We are here not to take action and it s not correct to jump to a conclusion where we simply start saying that everything is a scam just to get the attention of the public, what I am trying to say is that there are some criteria that go into a scam, have they misused public funds or has there (been) some kind of an issue in that. So I think those things have to be studied and examined”, further asserted Chief Minister.
 
It needs mention here that the report of the fact-finding team of the police headed by Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) MK Singh said that a total of 29 vehicles were in the personal custody of AIG A, GK Iangrai MPS before April 2022 without any orders from the competent authority.
 
Amongst these, (1) one new Scorpio, (1) one New Bolero, (2) Two New Swift Desire, and (2) Two new Bajaj Motor Cycles have not been allotted registration numbers due to the non-supply of documents by AIG A. And, also for the fact that most of them do not have the latest mandatory BS VI standards and as such they do not comply to the directions and Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highway which is a clear-cut violation of norms.
 
In addition to the above, a total number of eight (8) new Bajaj Pulsar 150 cc motor Cycles which were purchased in the year 2019 could not be registered since no documents are available.
 
One Hyundai Verna which is parked at Central Workshop has been allotted a fake number and no registration of the vehicle was done by AIG A since no documents are available.
 
Further, the following vehicles have not been allotted to any officer and as such can be kept as pool vehicles or allotted to officers or units.
 
The statement of the 7 police personnel who were working with AIG A was also recorded. A perusal of their statements, the report said, the delivery of most of the vehicles procured by PHQ under various heads was personally managed by AIG A through various people attached to him. These vehicles were then taken directly on his orders to either Police Officer Mess or the MPRO complex where they were kept and the keys of all these vehicles were kept in his official residence. Their Statement also reveals a lot of crucial facts which point to glaring mismanagement and misuse of power by AIG A, the report pointed out.
 
“Often, these vehicles without any registration were used for his personal purpose without any sanction from Police Headquarters. No log books were ever maintained for these vehicles even though POL/DOL coupons were issued by AIG A himself on a regular basis,” the report said.
 
The report said that the conduct of AIG A in the entire matter reflects gross negligence of duties and his conduct in the entire matter is unbecoming of an officer.
 
Meanwhile, the fact-finding team suggested the need for a departmental inquiry should be constituted against all erring officials to fix the responsibilities for all the lapses that have occurred.
 
“A high-level Fact-finding inquiry should be formed to go into the details of the entire scam, since this inquiry report may not reflect the entire magnitude of the scam,” it said.
 
It further suggested a comprehensive SOP should be prepared for procurement of vehicles, handing over, and taking over records maintained at more than one place for cross-verification of records.
 
“Prima facie, it has to be acknowledged and accepted that record keeping in the department is very poor and as such, there is a need for proper overhauling of the mechanism of record keeping. Considering these loopholes leads to mismanagement and various malpractices as manifested in this instant case.
 
The Central Workshop, Bishnupur as it caters to all units of the Meghalaya police should be placed directly under the supervision of an officer, not below the rank of the DIG. A proper mechanism is kept in place for expediting the condemnation process of vehicles.
 
Capacity building of the existing manpower at CWS and identifying new talents from different units so that they can cater to minor repairs at their respective units.
 
Streamlining of the entry and exit register needs to be done so that there is a proper record of vehicles kept at CWS. The security of Central Motor Workshop, Bishnupur needs to be reviewed and an SOP should be issued in this regard,” it further suggested.