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Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 18
The Nagaland state government is going to hand over the investigation of the July 13 Khovanalla blast to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton made the disclosure on July 18 replying to a media query regarding Nagaland’s technological capability for handling such cases.
Mystery surrounded the case, five days since the suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Chümoukedima district claimed the life of one Assam Rifles’ soldier and wounding four others. The Dimapur Police Commissionerate has also announced a cash reward for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the perpetrators or their associates. The state government had also requisitioned the National Security Guard’s (NSG) expertise to assist the Nagaland Police in the investigation. An NSG post-blast investigation unit scoured the blast site on July 15, collecting forensic evidence.
“The state government has decided to hand the case over to the NIA,” was all the Deputy CM incharge of Home said after landing at the Dimapur airport from Delhi on Saturday afternoon.
Patton was also queried on the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) issue. He said that a team of Cabinet Ministers led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio discussed the matter with the Union Home Minister vis-à-vis the devolution of legislative powers to the FNTA.
“The proposals discussed and finalised by the state government have already been shared with the Union Home Minister and his officers regarding the devolution of legislative powers to the FNTA,” he said. According to him, the Union Home Minister asked the state government to wait for a week or two for a decision.
On the Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 11 between New Delhi, Assam and Nagaland for exploration and extraction of petroleum in the Disputed Area Belt, Patton said that the state government will discuss with the civil society organisations regarding the matter.
