The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) slammed media reports that Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio was recently summoned and questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a military station at Dimapur over an alleged withdrawal of approximately ₹70 crore for the incomplete Nagaland high court building.
The NDPP, to which Rio belongs, in a statement issued on Thursday night termed the news report as “false” and “malicious”.
“The NDPP puts on record and clarifies that the Hon’ble Chief Minister was never summoned nor questioned by the ED till date. Such malicious false news have been fabricated and spread by unscrupulous elements whose sole intentions are to damage the image of the Hon’ble Chief Minister and defame his name and the office he occupies,” the party stated.
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It maintained that such acts of maligning the name and image of any person, let alone a chief minister are highly unacceptable and unbecoming and must be condemned by every right-thinking citizen.
The party informed 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 acts are not committed in the future.
{{/usCountry}}The party informed 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 acts are not committed in the future.
{{/usCountry}}It further demanded that the state government leave no stone unturned to identify and apprehend the culprits immediately and book them under relevant laws to serve as an example to deter others from resorting to such malicious acts in the future.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is yet to release a statement.
On the other hand, state Congress demanded that Governor should dismiss the CM Rio-led opposition-less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) for free and fair investigations on the case, upholding PM Modi government’s “zero tolerance towards corruption”.
“If he (Rio) 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,” state Congress president K Therie stated.
Asserting that in other states such accused resign on moral grounds or are dismissed, state Congress chief also asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to come out clean in the matter if they are not collaborating in the corruption.