DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 7 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has resolved to extend all possible cooperation and support to the Co-ordination Committee on Fuel Adulteration (CCoFA) and said the demand for CBI inquiry in the alleged fuel adulteration racket was justified. Stating this, NTC, media cell, in a press statement on Friday observed that the CBI inquiry becomes a necessity for an impartial investigation and to bring the case to a logical conclusion on time in the absence of “any creditable investigating agency” in the state to conduct impartial and independent investigation on such case of great public importance. It alleged that the State Government, instead of protecting the interest of the public, has become the “major partner in exploiting the gullible public by depriving of its due share of benefits from Public Distribution System (PDS) and posing harm to public out of fuel adulteration.” The NTC also lamented that the one and the only investigating agency, the State Vigilance Commission, have been “disrobed of all its powers by a Cabinet resolution since June 2016.” “The State Government is therefore free to indulge in corruption of any magnitude without deterrent,” it alleged while questioning, “Therefore, what alternative is left to public for redress of its grievances if not demand justice from CBI’s involvement?” The NTC also called upon all right thinking citizens to extend cooperation to CCoFA. ACAUT on meter tampering at fuel outlet ACAUT Nagaland on Friday said the fuel filling station at Sungkomen Ward, Mokokchung, which was sealed for meter tampering by the district administration and police on October 6, is just the tip of the iceberg. It also suspected that if the police and the administration probed deeper, the fuel outlet in question might be selling adulterated fuel as well. According to Media Cell, ACAUT, the audacity to carry on with such illegal activities despite the recent exposure and awareness of fuel adulteration in Dimapur is an insult to the authorities and public of Nagaland. It has therefore requested the concerned authorities to ensure that the actual owner of the fuel outlet is booked and stringent action taken after observing all the formalities such as sending the fuel samples for laboratory testing. Also cautioning the authorities against sending the samples only to Guwahati, ACAUT said the same sample should also be send to other accredited labs in Hyderabad or elsewhere as a precautionary measure and the IOC officials summoned to the site for inspection and verification. It also suggested that the SIT on fuel adulteration may also “kindly expand its scope of investigation beyond Dimapur and probe the fuel outlets at Zunheboto and Tuensang where the worst quality fuel is openly sold to the more than aware district authorities and the hapless public as well.”
