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Hojai�s properties in Nepal being attached

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Jan 31 � From a lower division assistant in a Government department to a crorepati. This is the story of a leader of a militant outfit in Assam. However, the person is losing all his properties in Nepal as the government of that country has started the process of attaching the properties following a request by the Government of India.

The militant leader that we are talking about is Niranjan Hojai, the commander in chief of militant outfit DHD(J), who managed to amass huge properties in Nepal over the years. But following the investigation of his properties by the Enforcement Directorate, the Government of India sent a letter through the Ministry of External Affairs to the Government of Nepal to seize his properties in that country and the process of doing so has started. Nepal Government has already attached his house and properties and seized vehicles.

Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that during questioning by officials of different central agencies, vital information regarding the story of Hojai from a Government employee to a militant leader came to light. Hojai joined the Government service as an LD assistant in Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) in Umrangsho in 1997 and he attended office up to late 2003 or early part of 2004. However, he is yet to officially resign from service.

Hojai came into contact with DJD(J) chief Jewel Garlosa and joined the outfit. During a clash between two factions of the DHD, he went to Darjeeling and stayed in the residence of a Nepali family. He went to Nepal with the help of that family and paid around Rs 40,000 to one Jagat Rai of Nepal to show him as his son to get a citizenship certificate. After obtaining the citizenship certificate as Nirmal Rai, the DHD(J) leader started his own business in Nepal and started a company which dealt in real estate.

Sources said that Hojai obtained a passport of Nepal in the name of Nirmal Rai and visited various countries including China, South Africa, Malaysia, etc., and after his marriage to Nepali citizen Sarita Giri, he also took her abroad on several occasions. Singapore was the country visited most number of times by Hojai as according to records available with the security agencies, he visited that country as many as 13 times and he invested in a company in Singapore. The main purpose of investing in Singapore is to obtain an international credit card from International City Bank.

Sources revealed that Hojai transferred an amount of 1.75 lakh dollars from his Singapore account to the account of his wife in Nepal. But the Central Intelligence Bureau of Nepal Police, following the request from India, froze that account in Everest Bank. The request was sent by India under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Some of the properties of Hojai were transferred to the names of his wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law immediately after his arrest but the Nepal Government has started the process of attaching the same. Sources said that the properties already attached include a bungalow in Jorpatty area of Kathmandu, the value of which is reported to be Rs 3 crore. The bungalow is now in the name of Hojai�s mother-inlaw. A Land Cruiser vehicle and one Maruti 800 car have also been seized. The Nepal police has started the process of attaching three other plots of land in Kathmandu.

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