Dimapur, March 21 (EMN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has pointed its fingers to what it alluded is conspiracy and “false news reports” to implicate opposition leader TR Zeliang who is reportedly being scrutinised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a case associated with funding Naga underground groups.
This was issued in statement from the ‘information & publicity wing’ of the ‘office of the Leader of Opposition’ on Wednesday.
According to the NPF, Zeliang was summoned to New Delhi by the NIA. A letter from the agency was received during the intervening period between March 12 and the 13th. On March 12, Zeliang wrote to the NIA expressing inability to “appear at such a short notice,” also because of the assembly session in which he was required to attend as leader of the opposition. The same day, another letter was received by Zeliang via his personal email, and Whatsapp seeking his attendance at NIA on March 17. Further, in reference to the notice ‘for appearance’ on March 17, Zeliang wrote to the NIA on March 16 expressing “failure to make himself available” because of important works adding that he would prefer to attend after the assembly session.
“The same was telephonically discussed with the NIA investigating officer. Distorting facts does not change the story and linking Zeliang to ‘terror funding’ by some news reporters buttressing their stories with fake inputs claiming to have been obtained from NIA and government sources is highly objectionable and puts journalism ethics to shame,” the press release stated.
Further, the NPF asserted that media reports “claiming” to have confirmation of documentary evidence indicating the involvement of Zeliang in the terror funding case “is nothing but pure exaggeration and dim-witted imagination at its heights.”
“News reports appearing in Assam and Nagaland media, or anywhere else for that matter, linking Zeliang to ‘terror funding’ are neither confirmed by NIA nor by Zeliang or his office but were mere copy-paste from reports published on hearsay,” it stated.
“Zeliang had personally written for deferment of the date for his cross examination because of the assembly session which ends only on 26th March and there was no written reply to NIA through any advocate at any point of time,” the NPF stated.
The NIA will never provide such false information to any media house or reporters, the NPF stated, adding that the “recent fake reports in the media is nothing but a re-make of allegations raised against Zeliang in 2015” when he was accused of laundering 78 cr. in Singapore and Hong Kong banks.
