Arunachal: Chakma body accuses police of giving clean chit to Rs 27 crore rehabilitation scam accused

GUWAHATI: The Chakma Displaced Family Justice Demand Committee (CDFJDC) on Tuesday expressed its concern over the move of the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) of Arunachal Pradesh Police to give a clean chit to the accused in the Rs 27.51 crore rehabilitation scam without investigating the main allegation of the complaint.

The Centre granted Rs 27.51 crore to pay compensation to the Chakma families who have been displaced due to the construction of the Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar (Hollongi airport).

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It was alleged that the entire fund was transferred into the account of an organization- Chakma Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee (CRRC), but the victims were not paid a single pie.

Representatives of CDFJDC submitted copies of a memorandum to the governor, the chief minister, the chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking “interventions against the move to give clean chit to the accused persons

The fund was not transferred into the accounts of the displaced victims, the CDFJDC alleged.

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Based on a complaint lodged by the CDFJDC, the SIC registered an FIR No 09/2022 under sections 120(B)/ 406/ 409/ 420 of the Indian Penal Code read with section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act on September 6, 2022.

The complaint was lodged against the project officials and leaders of the Chakma Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee (CRRC) established by the project administrator i.e. Sadhan Kusum Chakma, Paritosh Chakma from Mizoram, Bijoy Ranjan Chakma, Sambhasur Chakma, Dharma Chakma and others.

“In its latest status report while giving clean chit to the accused persons, the SIC concluded that the main issue is to ascertain whether commensuration of quality of works executed through the CRRC with the sanction funds of R&R exist on the ground,” the CDFJDC stated in a statement here.

Countering this attempt to give clean chit to the accused, the representatives of the CDFJDC in the memorandum stated that the first operative paragraph of the complaint categorically stated that under sections 31(2)(b) and 77(1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 (LARR Act), the compensation award shall have to be transferred/ deposited into the bank account of each beneficiary.

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In February 2019, the compensation for the standing assets (like agriculture/horticulture etc.) was deposited into the bank account of each of the 156 displaced families in February 2019.

“But in February 2020 when it was come transferring the rehabilitation and resettlement amount to 156 families, Rs 18,20,23,8561 was transferred into the bank account of CRRC, which was created by the deputy commissioner cum administrator for rehabilitation and resettlement of project-affected persons. But not a single pie was transferred into the bank account of each of the beneficiaries,” the memorandum stated.

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“However, one year after the registration of the FIR, the SIC has refused to investigate this particular aspect even though the bank statements of the CRRC with the Punjab National Bank, Itanagar branch will reveal the truth as to whether the payments were made into the bank account of the displaced victims or not as required by the LARR Act.

This investigation is not being done with the sole aim of giving clean chit to the accused,” said Koruna Sindhu Chakma, president of CDFJDC.

The memorandum also highlighted various aspects of the SIC trying to give clean chit to all the accused such as justifying the unilateral cancellation of expression of interest for the contract worth Rs 18.20 crore to build the houses and awarding the same to the CRRC without any tender; covering the criminal acts of the CRRC office bearers of changing the entire DPR specifications of the residential structures admittedly without “prior approval from any competent authority as an act of good faith, and further justifying spending Rs 7.20 crore to clear the project site in anticipation of proposed visit of the Prime Minister though the PM was admittedly not scheduled to visit the project site.

The CDFJDC threatened to approach the High Court and the Supreme Court if clean chit is given to the accused by the SIC without investigating whether the rehabilitation funds were transferred into the accounts of the victims or not.