Nagaland gun licence probe panel submits report

The three-member inquiry committee, constituted to probe into the fake gun licence racket in Nagaland, submitted its report last month, sources in Kohima have said.

The three-member inquiry committee, constituted to probe into the fake gun licence racket in Nagaland, submitted its report last month, sources in Kohima have said.

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Confirming that the report had been submitted in October, Development Commissioner Lalhuma, who chaired the committee, however refused to divulge the findings of the committee, which had first been constituted in the wake of a scathing attack on the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government by the opposition Congress over the alleged racket.

The committee however was reconstituted twice due to various reasons. The current committee during its investigation reviewed all gun licenses issued in 11 districts of the state since 1990. The scandal was initially detected after people from other parts of the country began coming to Nagaland to have their gun licences renewed.

The Union Home Ministry, which is said to have taken serious note of the racket given its internal security implications, had also sent several queries to the state government, which the administration failed to satisfactorily answer, the sources said. Following this, mounting pressure from the Centre forced the state government to reconstitute the committee, with a wider term of reference to probe into the alleged racket.