Shimray was picked up by the Indian security agencies apparently from Patna on Oct 2, as having revealed that he had been frequently travelling to Beijing and was in constant touch with the Chinese intelligence.
Meanwhile, United Naga Council expressed concern over the arrest and detention of Anthony Shimray. In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister it stated: \u201cIt is also our strong belief that the arrest and detention of Naga political leaders at this juncture goes against the very spirit of the ceasefire and may create an environment that is not conducive to the peace process,\u201d.
China arming NE insurgents
China has been arming insurgents in the northeast: Nagaland, Manipur and Assam, although perhaps not freely, according to an Indian Express online report, Oct 24. The report cited Shimray as having told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths that he had paid an advance of $ 800,000 this April to a Bangkok-based company to source rocket launchers, grenades, assault rifles and ammunition for the Naga and other insurgent groups in Assam and Manipur from a weapons supplier in China.
The TibetanReview.net report also cited sources as saying Shimray had told his interrogators that he had to make a final payment of another $200,000 before the Chinese company would ship arms from Dalian in north China to the Naga group through either the Cox\u2019s Bazaar route in Bangladesh or through the land route via North Myanmar. The arms supplier was cited as having said the weapons delivery was expected to be made in Oct-Nov, 2010, once the advance had been paid to the Chinese company.
The NIA was reported to have the exact names of the companies involved in Bangkok and China.
Top government sources told The Sunday Express that Shimray\u2019s release has been demanded by NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Bangkok this month, saying that the arms procurer for the insurgent group was in India only to help the Naga leadership in the ongoing dialogue with New Delhi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"