NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The needle of suspicion in the Dimapur bomb blasts pointed towards the involvement of the outlawed ULFA and ISI of Pakistan, Nagaland Chief Minister N Rio today told Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
The development came even as the Nagaland Chief Minister sought the intervention of the Ministry of Home Affair (MHA) in sorting out the Assam-Nagaland border dispute and complained about the shooting down of an innocent youth by CRPF in the inter-State border that led to sharp escalation of tension.
The Nagaland Chief Minister, accompanied by top State Government officials, met the Union Home Minister in his North Block office, this afternoon, to appraise him about the law-and-order situation in the State in the aftermath of the recent twin bomb blasts in the State.
Sources said that the Chief Minister intimated the Union Home Minister that the preliminary findings indicated the blasts that left 40 dead were the handiwork of ULFA and ISI of Pakistan. Present in the meeting were senior officials of the MHA, including Union Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh.
Later, he told newsmen that the involvement of militant outfits of Assam and outside elements like the ISI could not be ruled out. But he gave a clean chit to the Naga underground outfits. Police investigation is on and experts are going through the report of the inquiry panel. ?We are making some breakthrough,? he said, declining to reveal anything further.
However, officials here fear that involvement of ULFA in the blasts could have a bearing on the inter-State border tension. The situation in Nagaland is back to normal though he expressed concern over the prevailing tension along the Assam-Nagaland border.
When asked about the position of the Nagaland Government, Rio told this newspaper that his Government preferred to go for an out-of-court settlement to resolve the border dispute with Assam. ?It is advisable to go for an out-of-court settlement. We have proposed it to Assam Government but so far there has been no response,? he asserted.
The Supreme Court has recently decided to appoint a boundary commission to settle the border dispute, and has asked the two States to submit their responses.
Meanwhile, the Nagaland Chief Minister has sought the Centre?s clearance to visit the NSCN(I-M) leaders to felicitate early settlement of the problem. The State leaders should be allowed to meet the Naga underground leaders. ?We have to talk to them directly for an early settlement,? he said.
When asked whether they proposed to visit the NSCN leaders abroad or wanted to invite them to Nagaland, the Chief Minister said that they have also requested the Union Home Minister to allow the Naga leaders to visit the State. ?If not then we are willing to meet them abroad,? he said.
Asserting that he was just trying to act as facilitator, Rio said that the pace of dialogue should be faster though he admitted that things were moving faster than before. The next round of NSCN(I-M) dialogue is set to get under way at Bangkok in Thailand tomorrow.
The three-day talks between officials of the MHA and NSCN(I-M) are to focus on the list of demands submitted by the Naga outfit. The NSCN(I-M) leaders are also likely to be invited to visit India.