Gapmukhi Muivah alias Grinder, the main accused in the alleged attempt to hijack an Indian Airlines plane from Lengpui airport, denied the charges against him and said he had been involved in the peace talks to end the Naga imbroglio. "The case was registered against me based on the alleged confessions of Ranju Rangan, who retracted his reported statements before the courts, so there is no more allegation against me," said Grinder, a nephew of Th. Muivah, general secretary of NSCN(I-M). He claimed that the charges against him were baseless and hoped that he would be discharged as the Mizoram police had failed to produce a chargesheet against him even after three months.

Grinder was arrested at Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International airport in March for his alleged role in the attempted hijacking to secure the release of Th. Muivah.

"Hijacking is an act of terrorism condemned worldwide... it would be against the interest of the Nagas in general and NSCN in particular," he said, adding that even if the allegations of the intelligence agencies were true, there was no guarantee that his uncle would be freed in exchange of the passengers of the hijacked plane.

He said he had been acting as a "go-between" between the Centre and NSCN(I-M) but was neither a member of that organisation or any underground outfit.

Grinder alleged that the attempted hijacking case had been "cooked up" by officials with vested interests to conceal their failure in security measures at Lengui. "NSCN cadres are Christians and would never resort to terrorism or any kind of blackmail, which is against the principles of Christianity", he said.

He said he was a businessman based in Noida and was approached by the government to act as a messager between it and the NSCN(I-M). He was approached for his services in the peace process in 1996 by representatives of the Centre and he had complied "reluctantly" after he was convinced that both sides were sincere to bring about peace.