Militant funding: NIA arrests four Nagaland officials

Four people, including two senior Nagaland government officials, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Friday from Assam’s commercial hub Dimapur for allegedly diverting government
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GUWAHATI: Four people, including two senior Nagaland government officials, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Friday from Assam’s commercial hub Dimapur for allegedly diverting government funds to militants’ coffers.

Those arrested were additional director of agriculture V Aza, joint director of irrigation Hotoi Sema, cashier in the department of fisheries Kekhriesatuo Tep and former tourism director Purakhu Angami.
The accused persons were arrested in connection with a case registered with Dimapur police earlier and booked under section 384 of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 10 and 13 of UA (P) Act 1967, Section 25 (1B) of Arms Act, Section 7 and 8 of Nagaland Security Regulation and Section 13 of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

The NIA said it would produce the accused in a special court of the agency and seek their police custody.
In April, three other senior Nagaland government officials were arrested on the charge of diverting funds to the coffers of SS Khaplang faction of banned insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN-K.

A source in the NIA told the New Indian Express that more arrests of senior government officials were likely in the coming days. The source said the NIA had learnt that a section of the officials diverted funds, meant for various developmental activities, to various insurgent groups in the state. “They would divert a certain amount from a project’s budget to the insurgents. But on paper, they would show that the amount, released for the work, was properly utilised,” he said.

The militant groups in Nagaland, which run a parallel government, survive on illegal taxes, collected from government employees, traders and others. Apart from income tax, the residents are also required to pay “house tax”. Nobody resists the insurgents fearing for their life. But fed up with the decades-old tax culture, some organisations, particularly Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation, have now started raising their voice. While urging the rebel groups to unite, they insist that taxes should be paid to only one government (or, one militant group).

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