TURA:
Members of several Garo non-governmental organisations (NGOs) gheraoed the Tura Police station demanding the release of four of their leaders after they were detained by the police for seizing allegedly fraudulent bundles of beedis from shops at Rongram Market, on the evening of May 26.
The NGO workers were detained by Tura Chandmari police and cases were registered against them and several others.
The police had said that the leaders of Federation of Khasi–Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), Federation of A·chik Freedom (FAF), A·chik Youth Welfare Organization (AYWO), and Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE) were detained on charges of seizing a vehicle carrying a consignment of tobacco products.
West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police, VS Rathore, said, “During the inquiry, it was ascertained that seven members of FKJGP, ADE, AYWO and FAF seized some beedi packets from three shops and issued seizure lists also. Accordingly, all the seizure lists issued by NGOs were seized and seven members travelling in two vehicles were detained and brought to Tura police station. They included leaders of four organisations.”
The members of the NGOs, on the other hand, claimed that the products did not carry the maximum retail price (MRP) tag, as stipulated by Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, allowing traders to skirt taxes that are due to the state of Meghalaya.
Soon after the leaders were detained, dozens of members of the NGOs assembled at the Tura police station and began shouting slogans demanding release of their colleagues.
There were moments of heated confrontation inside the station with the police stating that several protesters were in an inebriated condition. The police, however, let the leaders go later in the night.
Arengh, president of FKJGP Garo Hills Zone, said in a statement to the press said that they seized the tobacco consignments as an act of civil action, but the police claimed that NGOs have no legal authority to make seizures.