GUWAHATI: Four government officials in Nagaland were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday in connection with a terror funding case especially involving the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K).
It may be mentioned that the NSCN-K had pulled out of the peace process with the Government of India in 2015.
The four arrested officials included former Nagaland State Tourism Director, Purakhu Angami, Additional Director of Agriculture Department, V Aza, Joint Director of Irrigation Department, Hutoi Sema and a superintendent/cashier of Directorate of Fisheries, Kekhriesatuo Tep, a NIA source informed.
The four were arrested in connection with an FIR (No.90/16 dated 01.08.16) filed at sub-urban police station, Dimapur in Nagaland. The original FIR was re-registered at the NIA branch office in Guwahati on 18.8.2016 under Sections 384 of IPC, 10,13,7 and 20 of UA (P) Act read with sections 7 & 8 of NSR, 25 (1B) Arms Act and Section 13 of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The NIA started investigation into terror funding in Nagaland following the arrest of a senior member of the rebel NSCN-K, identified as Khetoshe Sumi, by Assam Rifles in Dimapur on July 31 last year. The NSCN_K rebel was suspected to have been involved in raising fund for the out through illegal taxation of Nagaland Government Departments. In Nagaland, the rebels call this illegal taxation, `revolutionary revenue’.
Earlier, in January this year, the NIA had carried out a series of raids conducted in several Nagaland government departments to get hold of evidence of government funds being illegally transferred to the coffer of rebel groups.