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Rs 8-crore scam surfaces in Dima Hasao

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, March 4 � The Dima Hasao (NC Hills) district has been on the news for wrong reasons yet again as another major scam involving around Rs eight crore has come to light. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already registered a case in this regard and investigations are on.

Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that during the construction of highway in the Hill district, a good number of trees were uprooted and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as per the provisions, made payments for compulsory afforestation.

Sources said that the NHAI paid more than Rs eight crore to the NC Hills Autonomous Council through the Forest Department but the money was not utilized properly by the authorities concerned. The CBI has now been investigating the case and it would take some time for the completion of the probe, sources added.

It may be mentioned here that financial irregularities in the NC Hills Autonomous Council is nothing new as following widespread allegations of scams, the Government ordered a special audit of the accounts of the Council. The office of the Accountant General, which conducted the audit of the accounts of the Council for three years, found large scale irregularities, following which the Centre advised the Assam Government to entrust the CBI with the responsibility of probing into the irregularities.

Nine specific cases of irregularities in the Council were handed over to the central investigating agency and the agency has filed chargesheets of four of the cases. Sources said that the investigations of the other cases are on and the chargesheets of the same are likely to be filed in phased manner in the next few months.

However, the Government did not entrust the CBI with the responsibility of probing into all the financial irregularities and only nine specific cases were handed over. The CBI has not been asked to probe into the role of the State Government in the financial mismanagement in the Council. The AG special audit had pointed out that there had been huge discrepancies between the records of the State Government and the Council on the funds released to and received by the Council but the CBI has not been asked to probe into it.

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