The Rising People’s Party (RPP) of Nagaland, that models itself on the anti-corruption stance of the Aam Aadmi Party, has asked Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to clear the air on the Enforcement Directorate’s summons to five of his associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The summoning of the five was a direct indictment of the Chief Minister, RPP leaders said. Joel Naga and Vitho Zao, the party’s leaders said two of the five individuals summoned to appear before the ED in Guwahati have Central Bureau of Investigation cases pending against them since 2019.
Also among the five is Kuovesieo Rio, appointed in the Chief Minister’s Office as the personal assistant to Mr Rio. The other four are believed to be close confidants of the CM, the RPP said.
‘CM must explain’
“This is nothing less than a direct indictment of the CM himself. Interestingly, all the summoned persons — Kuovisieo Rio, Mengutuo Rio, Dsesevi Pielie, Vibeilietuo Kets and Mhalelie Rio — have given their addresses as Sovima village, Dimapur,” the party said in a statement.
“It’s incumbent upon the CM to clear the air regarding the money laundering case. The ED summons letter was issued on February 24 of this year but the deafening silence of the CM and the CMO in this matter till now is a story in itself,” the RPP said.
The party asked the CM to publicly address the issue to put all speculation to rest.
The five persons had approached the Kohima bench of the Gauhati High Court with a plea to declare the money laundering case filed against them as “void, non-operative” but the court rejected their plea.
The RPP requested the ED to pursue the case to its logical conclusion based on available facts.
“This summon is a first in the history of the State and the harried general public reeling under blatant corruption is beginning to believe that the long arm of the law will finally prevail. The charge of ED being used as a ‘political weapon’ by the ruling government at the Centre should not surface in this case,” the party said.
