Morung Express News
November 25
DIMAPUR: Giving a detailed clarification against the allegation leveled against him, Minister of Roads and Bridges Tokheho Yepthomi said in a release that both he and his personal secretary had been dragged into a controversy. Holding Phuyeka Achumi of Aghunato Town responsible for smearing his image, the Minister said that the NSCN (K) cadre on November 8 came to his official residence “fully drunk” without his knowledge and asked his wife for “pocket money but she could not help him.”
“Then he got angry and while I was staying inside my residential office it was told that he was shouting around my residence,” the release said. Later on, Phuyeka is said to have told the minister’s PS Kakheto and other visitors that he had seen NSCN (IM) cadres among the huge number of visitors in Tokheho’s residence. “I want to make it explicitly clear that that neither he met me nor did I know about his presence in my residence,” the minister said.
Terming the allegation that he was sheltering IM cadres at his house as totally false and baseless and a creation of Phuyeka, the NPF legislator said he was not aware of the presence of any NSCN (IM) cadres on that very day. He has asked NSCN (K) leaders to clarify his statement in the presence of Phuyeka if they do not take his words to be the truth.
Meanwhile, the NSCN (K) clarified that the witness to their account of the incident is a first class contractor named Shetoi of Surumi Village and not as appeared in yesterday’s news report.
