Shillong, Oct 27: Activist Agnes Kharshiing has lodged a complaint with the police after a coal-laden overturned at Jaiaw, on Tuesday (Oct 27)
The FIR was lodged with Lumdiengjri Police Station.
Kharshiing asked the police to seize the vehicle, inspect the cargo, and thoroughly investigate the following in addition to the investigation:
“A) Violation of the MMDR Act: The transportation of this coal must be investigated to determine its origin and destination and the owner/s of the coal. If unauthorized, this constitutes a direct offense under Section 21 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, which mandates strict action against illegal coal transportation and mining.
B) Forgery and Challan Discrepancies: I demand a prompt inquiry into the transport challan (if one was produced). The actual weight of the cargo must be strictly verified against the declared weight on the document. Any discrepancy indicates criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
C) Overloading and Road Destruction: The truck was overloaded, destroying public infrastructure depleting our national highways. Penal action must be immediately initiated under Section 194 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which specifically addresses the offense of driving overloaded vehicles.
D) Public Endangerment: The reckless overloading of this heavy transport vehicle poses an imminent threat of overturning, placing innocent lives in grave danger on public roads and caused heavy traffic. This warrants booking the driver and owner of the truck under Section 281 and 285 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which penalises driving any vehicle on a public way in a rash manner or negligent as to endanger human life and obstruct in public way.
Further, I am formally demanding an investigation into the systemic failure and potential complicity of enforcement authorities. It is inexplicable how this massively overloaded truck successfully bypassed multiple police stations, transport enforcement personnel, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) checkpoints, and Directorate of Mineral Resources (DMR) staff. The Meghalaya High Court has previously ruled that authorities, including Superintendents of Police, will be held in contempt and accountable if illegally mined coal is found to have passed through their jurisdiction. The failure to check this vehicle constitutes a severe dereliction of duty”.
