Imphal, June 13: A senior Cabinet minister in the Okram Ibobi Singh government has been accused of giving away a government vehicle to an insurgent leader.
This revelation has come in the wake of the Cabinet?s decision to ask the CBI to investigate allegations of involvement of ministers in the abduction and murder of city trader Manoj Kumar Shethi.
The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) has accused power minister Phungzathang Tonsing of giving away a Maruti Gypsy of the electricity department along with cash to the tune of Rs 2.6 lakh to a self-styled ?Captain? of the outfit without informing the ZRA.
Police have confirmed that the vehicle, bearing registration number MN-01-G-0068, is being used by some militants in Churachandpur district. A red alert has been sounded in the district and its neighbouring areas to recover the vehicle.
?Shocked? by the report, chief minister Ibobi Singh has asked the police to launch a ?full investigation? into the allegations. He warned that if any person was found involved in handing over the government vehicle to militants, he would be punished.
The report has made the chief minister jittery as it has come at a time when the BJP-led Opposition People?s Democratic Alliance has alleged that some of the ministers have links with militant outfits.
Union minister of state for home I.D. Swami told mediapersons during his two-day visit to Imphal last week that he had received reports of ministers? nexus with militants. The Union minister expressed ?unhappiness? over the deteriorating law and order in the state and said he would submit a report to the Centre.
Bowing to pressure from the Opposition, the Ibobi government had decided to hand over the case of abduction and murder of city trader to the CBI earlier this month. The Opposition claimed that some ministers and a Central government official were involved in the abduction and killing of the trader.
The police said the driver of the Gypsy, identified as Thongam Shyam Singh of the power department, had lodged a complaint with the city police saying that the vehicle was stolen from Thangal Bazar while it was parked at a busy marketplace.