The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) today refuted the ‘New Indian Express (NIE)‘ report, which claimed that the Nagaland Chief Minister – Neiphiu Rio was recently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the state government withdrawing over Rs 70 crores towards the construction of a High Court (HC) building in the state, which does not even exist.

It clarified that the Chief Minister – Neiphiu Rio was never summoned nor questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till date.

“Such malicious false news have been fabricated and spread by unscrupulous elements whose false intentions are to damage the image of the Hon’ble Chief Minister and defame his name and the office, he occupies,” – it stated.

The NDPP has vehemently condemned this malicious act of tarnishing the name and image of the CM – Neiphiu Rio, one of the tallest leaders the state has produced and noted that “All legalities are being put in place to identify and apprehend the source of this false and defamatory news, and all legal actions will be pursued, so that such actions are not committed in the future.”

“The President and rank and file of the NDPP collectively stand steadfast with the Hon’ble Chief Minister and it is also our strong demand that the state government leave no stone unturned to identify and apprehend the culprits immediately and book them under relevant laws. Let this be an example to deter others from resorting to such malicious acts in the future,” – the statement further added.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) noted the matter and claimed that this as a “public property”. In this matter, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed two cases, accusing 14 in one and 16 in the other. Besides, it has also filed 5 cases.

As per a press release issued by the NPCC President – K Therie, “The CM was questioned by ED for 6 hrs at Rangapahar military base. If he is not guilty, he should prove himself clean before the people. Since the matter is sub-judice, he should resign on moral grounds to enable the judicial process but I do not think he will do so. Now therefore, in upholding the commitment of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Union Home Minister over zero tolerance towards corruption, it is the responsibility of the Governor of Nagaland to dismiss the Govt to remove obstacles if any for free and fair investigations and also to deliver justice to the people. In other states, such accused resign on moral grounds or are dismissed with many living in jail. The law is the same for all. We demand justice from the Hon’ble Governor of Nagaland. It is also the duty of the BJP to come out clean in the matter if they are not collaborating in the corruption.”

According to the media report, the basic structure of the site is barely in place, but the Nagaland government till 2018 allegedly withdrew Rs 44.24 crore against electrification and water supply for the project site.

Besides, another Rs 22.42 crore for the construction of bungalows for the judges, the area for which was not earmarked.

“The amounts were siphoned out between March 2009 and March 2017 through 18 withdrawals by Nagaland’s Justice and Law Department,” – the report further added.