DIMAPUR OCTOBER 16 (MExN): In response to the news item published in the local dailies wherein the Kohima Municipal Committee (KMC) had arrested a person responsible for illegal trade practices in tomato business in Kohima and inclusive in the development where a person by the name of one Akhtar was mentioned of in connection with alleged illegal collection of taxes, the General Secretary of Murgipatty Naga Bazar House Owners Association, Dimapur (MNHOA) Akhtar has issued a clarification in case he be mistaken for the alleged person.
Referring to the ‘Akhtar’ mentioned of in the KTC case, the MNHOA General Secretary stated that it was necessary that a clarification be made in order to avoid any misconception that might arise out of the sharing of the same name. Secretary Akhtar stated that he was also a vegetable vendor with a shop at Murgipatty market and in this case he denied in no uncertain terms if the ‘Akhtar’ of the Tomato Scam meant himself (the secretary). The secretary stated that like any other vegetable vendors he was also subjected to all kinds of taxes, donations, fund drives, charities etc collected legally or illegally by government agents, groups and factions and individuals so the collection of taxes did not arise at all. He also denied any link or connection with any such tax collectors since he was not ‘their’ authorized agent to collect any tax whatsoever.
Secretary Akhtar also reminded that the present rate of tomatoes as fixed by the Dimapur Municipal Council was Rs 20 or below per kilogram with normal transactions settling on Rs 18. While terming as ‘absurd’ the rate of Tomatoes in Kohima being as high as Rs 40 per kilogram, Secretary Akhtar stated that he was making a clarification with the hope that the concerned authority as well as the public would not be misled by the report if “it means me.”
