Neiphiu Rio

Kohima, Nov. 25: Barely a week after the Khaplang group was singled out as the violator of ceasefire rules, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio tarred both factions of the NSCN with the same brush.

Often accused of being partial towards the Isak-Muivah group, Rio conceded that armed members of both NSCN factions were stalking the streets, including the state capital, in contravention of their ceasefire agreements with Delhi.

Rio?s admission came after a journalist was shot at last night in the heart of Kohima. Members of the Kohima Press Club and the Press Corps of Nagaland condemned the incident and pressed the government for ?speedy remedial action?.

Xavier Rutsa, a reporter for a local daily, was shot at while returning from a friend?s residence after dinner. This morning, journalists from Kohima and Dimapur staged a demonstration outside the Assembly, close to the place where legislators had assembled for a meeting. The media fraternity questioned the government?s capability to rein in the militant groups.

A cornered Rio blamed Delhi for the situation. He said ?adequate care? was not taken while framing the ground rules for the ceasefire with the NSCN (I-M) in 1997 and with the Khaplang faction of the group in 2001. ?Law and order problems sprout from the Naga political problem. Solve the problem and things will be better.?

The chief minister described as ?funny? Delhi?s decision to reduce the quantum of central assistance for modernisation of the police force.

On allegations about the state administration becoming meek, Rio said there was little the government could do if the ground rules of the ceasefire allowed some functionaries of the militant groups to have armed bodyguards. ?In such a situation, it is difficult for the state administration to control people moving about with arms in public areas.?

On Thursday night, several militants were seen on a Kohima street, brandishing firearms, while the police patrolled another area.

In a strongly-worded letter to the chief minister, Kohima Press Club members Kopelo Krome and Narain B. Sagar questioned why the government had not been able to stop such blatant violation of the ceasefire.

Geoffrey Yaden, president of the Press Corps of Nagaland, urged the government to ensure security to mediapersons and asked the armed factions if they had ?authorised? the attempt to kill Rutsa. The injured journalist is recuperating at Oking Hospital after undergoing surgery this morning. His family said they did not ?want to live in the shadow of the gun?.

Kohima superintendent of police Martin Pienyu said the identity of the person who shot at Rutsa with a 9 mm pistol had been ?almost ascertained?, but his whereabouts were not known.

?This is intelligence failure. Intelligence personnel are getting information but not disclosing it for various reasons,? he said.