Meghalaya: NCP’s Saleng demands CBI probe against Sniawbhalang, dares him to challenge Gadkari’s report

By Daiaphira Kharsati

SHILLONG:
 
Legislator of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Saleng Sangma demanded an immediate CBI investigation against transport minister Sniawbhalang Dhar for his role in the functioning of illegal weighbridges in Meghalaya and said that Dhar should file an FIR against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari if he thinks a false claim is being made.
 
Saleng said that Sniawbhalang’s clarification on the matter was incorrect as data brought forward in the Parliament is only done after official sources authenticate it.
 
“Unless data is authenticated, it cannot be placed inside the Parliament. They cannot simply play around. Whatever the Union Minister has said is true,” Saleng said.
 
Saleng further added that if Sniawbhalang is adamant on sticking to his stance and believes that a false claim is being made, then he “should file an FIR against the union minister for giving a false report" in the Lok Sabha.
 
Lashing out at the illegalities of the transport department in operating unauthorised weighbridges in the state, Saleng further said that Sniawbhalang’s clarification “does not hold any water” and were just deflection tactics.
 
Sniawbhalang has recently come under the limelight for his role in the transport department. 
 
Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari had stated in the Lok Sabha last week, replying to a question by Meghalaya parliamentarian Vincent Pala, that four out of five weighbridges operating along the NH-6 in Meghalaya are illegal.
 
Moreover last week, The Northeast Today (TNT) also unearthed a major weighbridge nexus operating in the state across the national highway (NH-6) where truck drivers and sources in the transport department have stated that officials of the department seek bribes from overloaded trucks to steer them clear of having to undergo the weighbridge check.

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