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Dimapur, March 18 (EMN): The chief of Voters Party International (VPI), Vishwatma, has been arrested by Dimapur police over an alleged conspiracy to stop the democratic funding system of the VPI party through refundable donation receipts (RDR).
This was stated by secretary of all India committee of VPI, Shivakant Gorakhpuri, at a press conference held at Tourist Lodge in Dimapur on March 18.
Gorakhpuri said that the VPI chief was arrested on March 13 during cadre training of VPI members of Nagaland and added that Dimapur police arrested him suo motu under section 419/420/468/471. The VPI chief will be in police custody for seven days before he is produced in court on March 20, he said.
“If some people of Mon district have been involved in taking money fraudulently in the name of membership, then a case under IPC 420 should be instigated against them, not against Delhi-based head of the party,” he stated.
Gorakhpuri said that democratic funding through RDR is a “must to get our democracy rights from the very few corporate sectors who are funding the big political parties” and opined that the whole country should stand to save the RDR system, in order to transform the virtual democracy into a real democracy.
Further, he said that the political workers and parties were like lawyers of the public and therefore must be paid by the client itself, not by corporate houses.
Gorakhpuri opined that if the corporate houses were getting their political donation back by corrupt means, the same should be returned to the public by means of law. He also informed that the VPI party charges INR 300 as membership fee valid up to four years and that it would return the amount with interest when it forms the government. He informed that around 13,000 have joined the VPI party from Nagaland with highest registration from Mon district.
He went on to say that the workers of Nagaland would continue to work until they grant economic freedom to all the Nagas.
The deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Naieem Mustafa, while speaking to Eastern Mirror, informed that the VPI chief was running a “fraudulent business of sorts.”
“We arrested him on information that he has been brainwashing people into giving the VPI money as membership fee and in return giving them refundable donation receipts (RDR) which were in dollars,” Mustafa said, questioning how RDR could be cashed in national banks.
“He is cheating innocent people on the pretext that these RDRs will be cashed with interest once the party comes to power,” said the DCP.
The DCP also cited many incriminating evidences such as how Vishwatma came to Nagaland with two “commandos” amongst others. “We have taken statements from the two proclaimed commandos as well and they have been all convinced to be part of his fraudulent activities.”
Mustafa also shared that the accused had recently changed his name from Bharat Gandhi to Vishwatma but travelled under his old alias.