Kohima, Jan. 14: Pro-insurgent Briton David Patrick Ward, arrested in Nagaland six months ago on charges of assault and arson, will have a high-profile visitor to his prison cell next week in the form of his country?s deputy high commissioner to India, Andrew Hall.
The British high commission had written to the Nagaland government asking for Ward?s deportation to the UK, but the seriousness of the charges against him stalled the process.
Variously described as a ?Robinhood-type character?, a ?tricky person? and a ?fanatical supporter of Naga insurgency?, Ward was booked under the National Security Act (NSA).
Hall, who will be in Nagaland along with wife Kathy from January 17 to 21, intends to meet Ward at Dimapur Central Jail on the very first day of his tour. It is speculated that the British deputy high commissioner wants to hear the incarcerated Briton?s side of the story before making another move to have him deported.
Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio is likely to be out of station during the British envoy?s stay in the state.
Additional director-general of police (prisons) N.N. Walling said he was not sure whether a prisoner booked under the NSA could be deported. ?I have written to the government, asking whether it is possible to withdraw the case and deport him to his country.?
Ward was arrested on July 27 on the basis of complaints that he had damaged property and assaulted people in Noklak town of Tuensang district. It transpired that he was the founder of an NGO that supports Naga insurgency and had visited Nagaland several times. Deported to his native Edinburgh in 1992, Ward reportedly returned two years ago and has been in the state since.
A prison official said the Briton went on hungerstrike a couple of months ago, but was forcibly fed liquids. Ward, who was born when his tea planter father was based in Assam, developed an interest in the Naga cause while studying anthropology in a UK prison. He had been imprisoned for being involved in a robbery.
The controversial Briton organised concerts within Wellingborough Prison to raise funds and set off for Nagaland with a fellow prisoner named Stephen Hill after they were freed.
The founder of Naga Vigil would frequently shuttle between villages in Nagaland mustering support for his NGO and the cause he professed to be upholding until he was deported in 1992. The police suspect Ward re-entered the state through the Indo-Myanmar border in either Mon or Tuensang. Intelligence agencies suspect Ward of being a conduit for several militant groups active in the northeastern states.