Morung Express News
October 3
DIMAPUR: Despite the setting up of a one-man committee headed by Lalhuma, ACS and Development Commissioner, to enquire into the illegal arms license racket, till today no substantive development is known to have taken place. “I don’t know whether the committee is even there or not” said an Investigating administrative officer. The Development commissioner could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
However, Chief Secretary Nagaland Talitemjen Ao told The Morung Express that investigations were still on but declined to comment on the latest developments. “I have already asked the committee to expedite the investigations” he said adding that the same was conveyed to the government today. He also admitted that “there is definitely something not right”. According to another highly-placed official, the investigations is covering all the Districts of Nagaland and ‘would take time since there is a deeper issue going on here’. Investigating officers have also admitted that even Magistrates apart from EACs, SDOs and clerical staffers in almost all the District DC departments and Arms Branches, are involved in the racket, reported to be on a large scale.
It is also learnt that the committee has compiled in elaborate, details as well as the necessary statistics in regard to the number of illegal Arms licenses and the persons involved. However, it is alleged that some Government agencies and core departments are attempting to hush up the case for the reason that it would “effect Governmental functioning”, according to a highly-placed government official.
Fake licenses in Nagaland are mainly of two kinds. One of these is with entirely fake official appendages like fake stamps, signatures, governmental logos and designations. These are provided to those from outside the State seeking arms licenses. Usually it is a clerical staffer who provides for all these with the backing of required finances from either a tout or the ‘customer’.
The second kind is those declared fake and entered into false Government registers maintained by the involved staffer(s) ostensibly, to convince that the license being issued are authentic (It is learnt from the confession of Harishankar Singh on his arrest last January that such bogus government registers were being maintained by two clerical staffers.)
Harishankar Singh case
Meanwhile, it has been established that the probe ordered by the State Government into the Harishankar Singh illegal arms license case in January 2005 has led to the arrest of 7 persons involved in issuing illegal license but the arrests was not made public. The DC Dimapur had lodged an FIR with the Dimapur police on January 15, 2005 against some clerks in the establishment. The Dimapur Police began its investigations and arrested an LDA and a UDA/Judicial Pashker of the DC Administration. Harishankar Singh, who was arrested by the GRPS in January for possession/procuring fake arms licenses, was also remanded to judicial custody in Dimapur. The statements of the arrested, including Hairshankar were taken down in the presence of the DC and the then SP of Dimapur, Janardan Singh. Harishankar had initially claimed during interrogation that the licenses for fresh guns and also renewal of old ones were meant for those seeking jobs as security men in private companies. He also confessed that he regularly came to Nagaland to get licenses for residents of Bihar and West Bengal even though issuing of licenses remains banned in that state. Consequently, both the DC and the SP jointly searched the Arms section of the establishment, seizing incriminatory documents important to the investigations, leading to more arrests - an LDA from the Arms Branch, a Judicial Pashker, a Dobashi, a Gun-house Manager and two persons employed in different gun houses in Dimapur.
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