Shillong under serious threat of becoming a city where Criminals find it easy to take refuge and mingle

In what maybe seen as a feather in the cap of Meghalaya Police ,details emerging from investigation and arrests have shown that the abduction of a 77 year old senior citizen earlier this year had a multi state angle with the kingpin  behind this abduction being from the state of Tripura and Assam.

Tapan Malakar of Kalaishaher, north Tripura bordering Assam was  the main kingpin behind the kidnapping, his wife Bada Myrthong, who was involved in the whole conspiracy and abetting the kidnapping were arrested from Lumkhyriem, Ishyrwat Nongmynsong .

But this is not a one off case and the pattern of crimes over the years is something we must serious worry about.

Cross border crimes have been on the rise and many while lauding the police in this case are now worried that ghettoising of the city of Shillong where many criminals find easy refuge in different parts of the locality is a serious danger.

This year there have been arrests made of criminals hailing from parts of Assam,Nagaland,Mizoram and also suspicion that certain militants from Bangladesh took refuge in the city after the infamous attack on Dhaka cafe.

The City of Shillong cosmpolotian character is now under serious threat of being used as a garb for criminals who use this and seek refuge or transit within the city.

And despite allies best effort the Meghalaya police in all honesty is stretched and battling an evil which needs more resources and manpower.

Earlier the city was a den for the insurgents and many Militants from NSCN,NLFT and ULFA were arrested in the late nineties and early 2000s from various localities in the city.

But these militants largely kept to themselves and the unwritten code was not to be traced in the city and keep it away from the world of crime as any upsurge in their activities would ensure that there would be more police activity says one police official .

'The basic thing was that they did not indulge in criminal activities in the city of their shelter and Shillong was the most comfortable and cosmopolitan refuge for them' added the police official

This however does not seem to be in the case of hardcore criminals who are now using the city for their illegal activities,with increase sales of drugs,kidnapping and thefts including murders say sources.

The rise in crime graphs is a clear indicative in this regard.

Certain areas have been identified as clear places where these criminals try to mix into the population there and while the police are wary of profiling the criminals it cannot be ruled out that there is a sort of protection and patronage that many of these people get from influential elders and leaders of the community .

Shillong which was once the nerve centre for education may become a transit point for hardened criminals and drug peddler if things do not change and certain steps are not taken into account.

With law being ambiguous in many fronts the role of civil society in these fronts is equally important ,so is that growth of illegal settlements in certain parts of the city.