RPP said firstly, according to newspaper reports, the army has declined to comment which meant that something was “fishy”, secondly, several months back the ED first interrogated five close confidants of Rio under Case No. ECIR/GWZO/09/2020/488, one out whom was the personal assistant to the chief minister, thus it was only natural that the Chief Minister himself should be interrogated.
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Correspondent
Rising People’s Party (RPP) on Friday has said that it was not a surprise that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should interrogate Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, for six hours and which it expected more grilling in the days ahead.
According to a press statement issued by RPP, despite the NDPP table thumbing and their protests that the ED grilling the CM was fake news, it said “there’s no smoke without fire”.
It said firstly, according to newspaper reports the army has declined to comment which meant that something was “fishy”, secondly, several months back the ED first interrogated five close confidants of Rio under Case No. ECIR/GWZO/09/2020/488, one out whom was the personal assistant to the chief minister, thus it was only natural that the Chief Minister himself should be interrogated.
While the question in everyone’s mind is whether the ED would pursue the matter to its logical conclusion or not, the RPP said that it is amply clear that Rio cannot escape the net cast by the ED and added that the Chief Minister is now a “prisoner” of the BJP and this will have intense ramifications for the state.
The RPP press statement also said it has come to the notice of the party that the ED is also vigorously chasing 10 NDPP seating MLAs and speculation was rife that the ED has built up cases of corruption against the 10 MLAs.
RPP added that as per sources, these 10 MLAs might “strike a bargain” with the BJP to join the party and similarly, given the aggressive pursuance of the case by the ED, the Chief Minister too joining the BJP could not be ruled out either.