SHILLONG:
Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) secretary Gurjit Singh, on May 19, issued a clarion call for peace among all the communities in the city, and asked people to leave it to the police to investigate into the assault on a local taxi driver at Khyndailad on May 18 evening.
“I cannot say whether our boys were involved in the fight or not. Police will tell who is involved and who is not. Let the police do their work. if any of our boys were involved, let the police arrest them but random arrest of people just to appease one side should not be the solution,” he said.
He informed that personnel from the Sadar police station, including a DSP, had come to the Harijan Colony in Them Iew Mawlong on May 19 morning to investigate. “They questioned two to three boys from here, suspected to be involved in the fight but they were later released because the trio was not involved. Things will be clear once investigation is complete,” he said.
A local taxi driver was assaulted by miscreants at Khyndailad on May 18 evening, resulting in wide-spread agitation with taxi drivers’ associations demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits.
“I don’t know what really happened. Only came to know about this from the media. But I appeal for peace. Let’s not bring community into the picture. Until the police finish their investigation, we cannot blame anyone. Fights happen from time to time; recently, one of our boys were also badly beaten up by a few youths but because we didn’t want to turn this into an issue, we never flashed it. We don’t want a Khasi-Punjabi clash; we want peace; let’s not blow things out of proportion. Let’s live and work together. Problems can be solved peacefully,” Singh added.