Nagaland govt officials gave Rs 20 crore to NSCN-K in 4 years: NIA

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has established that four Nagaland government officers had made the banned insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) richer by over Rs 20 crore in just four years by sharing with the outfit funds from the state exchequer.
The federal anti-terror probe agency has recovered payment slips and registers to this effect, which establishes that the arrested officers were hand in glove with NSCN (K) in its "illegal tax collection" racket.
The four officers - Vilepral Aja (additional director of department of agriculture, Kohima), Purakhu Angami (former director of department of tourism), Kekhriesatuo Tep (superintendent of fisheries department) and K Hutoi Sema (executive engineer of irrigation and flood control department) - were arrested on October 13.
"These officers maintained slips and registers in which exact amount and name of the person to whom money was to be given are mentioned. The handwriting experts of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) Gandhinagar have confirmed that these four officers maintained these slips/registers," said a source.
An assessment of payment slips and other documents suggests that arrested officers have handed over somewhere between Rs 20 to Rs 25 crore to NSCN (K) and other factions since 2012, said the officer.
Sources say that while S Khetoshe Sumi, finance in charge of NSCN (K) who was arrested last year, was extorting money from state government officials, instructions were coming from Isak Sumi, a Myanmar-based key member of the outfit, who handles all the finances for anti-India operations.
In a chargesheet filed earlier this year against Isak Sumi, Khetoshe Sumi and another finance collection agent, Victo Swu, NIA claimed that they raised funds through illegal tax collection and extorted money from government offices to support the banned organization in its activities.