As political temperatures rise in the wake of the biggest mining tragedy in Meghalaya’s history, with the opposition demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma over the deadly dynamite blast linked to illegal coal mining in East Jaintia Hills, Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong on Monday dismissed the demand as politically motivated while asserting that the government would shoulder full responsibility to stop such illegal activities forthwith. Speaking against the backdrop of the continuing search and rescue operation at the Mynsngat–Thangsko area, where the blast has once again exposed the persistence of unlawful mining despite repeated bans and court orders, Tynsong said the issue was being politicised even as the administration and police remained focused on enforcement and accountability.
“This is a political issue, so anything you can demand, sometimes you can also demand that Prestone Tynsong should resign, so that is there but let me tell you, we take the whole responsibility to make sure these illegalities stop immediately,” the Deputy Chief Minister said, responding to calls for the Chief Minister’s resignation.
With district authorities and the East Jaintia Hills police continuing intensive operations at the blast site, Tynsong said the rescue effort was still underway and had not been called off, underscoring that the government was not ruling out the possibility of more victims being trapped. “Yes right now operation is still on and right now no recovery of death or something but still of course we have asked the concerned personnel to still see if there is any more trap or anymore dead bodies so that they are on the ground,” he said when asked about the status of the operation.
On the law-and-order front, the Deputy Chief Minister confirmed that arrests had already been made and that the investigation was expanding to identify everyone involved in the illegal mining network. “Right we have already arrested 2, the police are on the job, to find out more details and information from those arrested to make further arrest, who are the miners, and who are involve in this illegality,” Tynsong said, indicating that more arrests were likely as the probe progressed.
