SHILLONG, Nov 21 ? Chief Minister DD Lapang has been accorded ?Z? category security cover by the Centre keeping in view the increased threat perception. Stating this here on Friday, the Chief Minister said that besides the usual ?Z? category security cover, he would be allotted a separate bungalow in New Delhi.
Reiterating that Meghalaya is a peaceful state, Lapang, however reasoned that he was given the country?s top security cover as ?taking advantage of the peaceful situation, militants from other states are entering Meghalaya.?
Several militants, including those from the ULFA and NDFB of Assam have taken shelter in some parts of the state, the Chief Minister said at a press conference in his newly constructed office chamber installed with close-circuit cameras at the Main Secretariat building here.
?Moreover, being the chairman of the North East Congress Co-ordination Committee-I (NECC-I), I am required to frequently move around other insurgency-affected states of the region and we do not want to invite unforeseen trouble,? Lapang added.
He further informed that during his recent visit to New Delhi he met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and requested him to enlist Meghalaya as an ?A? category state. ?When the Chief Minister of the state is entitled to ?Z? category security, the state itself should be declared as of ?A? category,? he emphasised. This would ensure 100 per cent Central funding for modernisation of the state police force, the Chief Minister informed.
Expressing concern over unabated infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into Meghalaya, the Chief Minister told the Union Home Minister that this was leading to harassment of people living in villages on this side of the border.
The forces should be more ?vigilant and disciplined? he said. ?While I do not doubt the integrity of the BSF keeping vigil along the international border and the Assam Police along the inter-state border, yet the presence of black sheep in both the organisations cannot be ruled out,? Lapang said.