DIMAPUR: A local leader of the extremist group National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) was picked up by the Assam Rifles on Wednesday night after he had allegedly asked people not to vote in favour of Nagaland BJP chief Temjen Imna Along.
Lanuwati Jamir, the NSCN-IM leader in the Ao region, is now in the custody of the police.
Temjen Imna Along, also a minister, is contesting from the Alongtaki constituency in the Mokokchung district.
A letter, signed purportedly by Jamir, was circulated in the villages under the constituency. It directed people not to vote for Along after accusing him of being an active member of the RSS who is “trying his best to penetrate our land with Hinduism...”
“…observing his anti-Naga character, all the villages of the Alongtaki constituency are directed not to vote in favour of Mr Temjen Imna Along’s candidature in the coming general election. Failing which, stern action shall be initiated against the defaulters,” the letter warned.
The NSCN-IM said its central authority did not issue any such directive. The outfit said it would probe the matter.
The BJP is contesting 20 of the state’s 60 seats after striking a seat-sharing deal with ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party which heads the state’s ruling coalition. The BJP has won the Akuluto seat uncontested after the Congress nominee opted out.
Meanwhile, pre-poll violence was reported from Mokokchung and Wokha districts.
The police on Wednesday retrieved the body of the nephew of the Janata Dal (United) candidate in the Koridang Assembly seat. The deceased was reported missing since being abducted by the miscreants on Tuesday.
In Wokha, the authorities imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in two Assembly segments after clashes broke out between the supporters of rival political parties on Thursday.