Why were three vehicles with tinted glasses, a siren, and a dozen men in black uniforms—armed with intimidating weapons and magazine pouches—parked right outside the high-security Meghalaya Secretariat on Friday afternoon? Though these were air pistols and air guns, according to East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem, they were not conventional airguns or air pistols.
The unsettling scene unfolded in the afternoon when police noticed a red Audi, a Scorpio, and a Toyota Innova Crysta parked opposite the Secretariat, one of them without a number plate. On inspection, officers discovered 12 men clad in black, appearing more like henchmen, armed with weapons and communication gear. “For common men yes, anybody seeing that kind of weapons carried by people dressed in black with magazine pouches… even a person who knows weaponry, on seeing those kinds of weapons… because they are not conventional airguns or air pistols,” said East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem. “If you look at the air pistols, they look like 9 mm Brownies, so these look very much like semi-automatic or automatic weapons. Nobody will think they are conventional weapons; by the look of it, it looks intimidating. So that itself indicates a wrongful motive.”
The police immediately alerted the Special Operations Team (SOT), which rushed to the spot. On searching the vehicles, officers recovered six magazine pouches, five handheld walkie-talkie sets, five air guns, and two air pistols. The 13 people, including 12 bouncers, were taken to Sadar Police Station, and the items seized.
The vehicles were traced to 25-year-old Meban Snaitang of Pokseh. According to the SP, “He has been taking his people around, moving around with sirens and tinted glass. The motive behind it will be further established after we have investigated. Apparently, it appears that Meban Snaitang is using 12 people dressed in black and carrying those weapons probably with a motive to intimidate, probably with a motive to show that he is in a position of power so that he could either influence, intimidate, or get his way through. That is why preliminary findings indicate this, yet we will investigate to ascertain what is the purpose of carrying 12 people, tinted glasses, sirens, and all these. These are all illegal.”
Police confirmed that under the law, air pistols can only be kept at home and used under specified conditions such as in forested areas—not carried publicly. The seized weapons have been sent to the forensic laboratory for examination. “Coupled with the outfit they were wearing and the magazine pouches and walkie-talkies, tinted glasses—these in combination and all that have a different motive altogether, which compels further investigation,” SP Syiem stated.
A case will be filed at Sadar Police Station for impersonating law enforcement personnel and under the Arms Act, as police continue to probe the purpose behind this chilling display of power in the heart of Shillong’s security zone.
