Government Departments In Nagaland Paid “Extortion Money” To Terror Outfits: NIA

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) enquiry has discovered that at least 12 government departments in Nagaland frequently paid “extortion money” to members of the banned terrorist organisation National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K).

Recently, a photograph on Facebook showed Vikram Misri, Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, posing with NSCN-K’s military commander Niki Sumi, who is wanted for having planned the 2015 ambush in Manipur in which 18 soldiers were killed.

The NIA enquiry uncovered that the government departments paid extortion money to two more outfits: the NSCN-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Naga National Council (NNC). A NIA official said:

We have records of at least 12 governments departments that were paying extortion money to the NSCN-K, the NSCN-IM and the NNC. These offices maintained receipts of the amount paid to these outfits and, in some cases, we have seized the ‘minutes’ of the meetings held to discuss the amount to be paid. The records in our possession are 2012 onwards, but the racket has been going on for decades. As per the documents, around ₹3 crore was paid to various outfits…

The NIA had conducted raids on Nagaland government offices on January 18 while investigating a case it had filed in 2016.

On 31 July 2016, the Assam Rifles in Dimapur arrested S. Khetoshe Sumi who was the NSCN-K’s ‘in-charge of finance’ for the Kohima and Dimapur regions, and was responsible for getting funds through illegal taxation of government departments. V.K Sumi, another suspect was arrested on 28 September in Kohima. The NIA filed a charge sheet against the two accused on 25 January which stated:

During the investigation, many incriminating documents were seized from government offices in Kohima, which proves Khetoshe Sumi and V.K Sumi, along with the other absconding accused, were involved in the case in connivance with government officials.

According to a NIA official, around 150 personnel from across India were flown to Kohima to conduct simultaneous raids on the government offices.