Kohima, Dec 1 : Abduction has been on a constant rise in Dimapur with over 100 businessmen abducted for ransom this year, eight between October and November alone.
Since 2007, hundreds of businessmen have been abducted, mostly by Naga militants. Over 25 businessmen were killed.
According to sources, over 200 affluent non-Naga businessmen have fled Dimapur for fear of their lives. Sources here said in this year itself, over 100 non-Naga businessmen were abducted by militants and terrorists from the town.
Many businessmen do not even lodge complaints with police. Hariram Gupta, who was abducted last Thursday and released on Friday after paying a ransom of Rs 5 lakh, has not yet lodged an official complaint.
The police said such cases were not reported to them out of sheer fear.
Home minister Imkong L. Imchen and Nagaland DGP K. Kire blamed the judiciary for not punishing the anti-social elements.
The Centre decided to book all the criminals and militants arrested under the National Security Act but it did not work as they were often set free without proper trial by courts of law.
Assam Rifles and the CRPF will assist the state government in curbing the menace of abduction and extortion by militants, especially in Dimapur and Kohima.
Inspector-general of Assam Rifles (North) Maj. Gen. Sandeep Singh directed all sector commanders and commandants of all units under IGAR to beef up security in the state and instructed commanders to be more vigilant to prevent any untoward incident in the state.
Imchen and Kire said the army would not be called in to assist the state administration. Instead, paramilitary forces like the Assam Rifles and CRPF will support the government.
There are over a dozen militant groups from the Northeast operating from Dimapur, taking advantage of the current ceasefire between the Centre and the Naga outfits.
K. Kire told The Telegraph that some of the Assam outfits operated from the border areas and committed crimes in and around Dimapur.
“We have been co-ordinating with the army in Assam to check the movement of militants,” Kire said.
He said militants from Assam mostly operated from the Karbi Anglong area and indulged in extortion and abduction.
Imchen, however, said the government could not stop the Naga militants from collecting funds as the Centre had officially recognised NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K) by signing the ceasefire agreement. He said the Naga separatist groups had to indulge in fund raising for survival, but he asked the militants to be transparent in their collections and make them known to the public.
Since the inception of Naga nationalism and formation of statehood in early sixties, no government had asked the Naga groups to stop collecting what they referred to as taxes. Successive state governments had supported the Naga cause.
Imchen said the Naga issue was a political problem and urged the Centre not to discriminate against the Nagas. He also accused the neighbouring states for “importing insurgency” into Nagaland and asked Naga factions to disassociate themselves from other militant groups of the region.
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