ITANAGAR, 6 Feb: The Arunachal Democratic Party (ADP) on Thursday said that it is disheartening to see that a group of businessmen from the neighbouring state are using Arunachal Pradesh as a safe haven for accumulating black money.
Addressing mediapersons at the press club here, ADP president Tami Pangu said that such businessmen are “evading various forms of taxes for the last many years by taking advantage of lack of effective law enforcement authority in the state.”
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted raids at various liquor establishments of businessman Niraj Sharma, such as the ICR, Namsai, Tippi, and Bordumsa, in connection with the activities of the United Brothers Distilleries Private Limited, besides raiding the businesses of Sanjay Dewan, Rajan Lohia, and Rajesh Aggarwal.
“Apart from liquor businesses, there are as many as 11 factories run by Sharma and his associates under M/s Platinium Alloys Pvt Ltd in at Tippi in West Kamengdistrict, M/s Shree Salasar Industries & M/s SMS Smelter Ltd in Lekhi, M/s Satyam Ispat North East Limited, M/s Satyam Ispat, M/s Satyanarayan Steel Pvt Ltd, M/s Satyam Steel and Alloys, M/s Satyanarayan Ispat, M/s Satyam Steel and Alloys, M/s Satyam Coke, M/s Sunshine Industries in the Banderdewa Industrial Estate, and Kharsang Industries Pvt Ltd in Kharsang in Changlang district run by Niraj Sharma and his associates Purushottam Murarka, Ratan Sharma, Jai Prakash Jaishwal, Sandeep Kumar Bhagat, Vijay Vyas, Harsh Sharma, Rama Sharma, Naresh Chandra Keyal, Hari Sharma, Suresh Sharma, etc, within the state of Arunachal Pradesh for the last many years,” Pangu said.
“In addition to this, there are many LAMC coke and breeze factories established in Changlang district and most of them are also run by businessman from the neighbouring state,”Pangu said.
He expressed suspicion over whether these factories are being run legally, raised the matter of environmental damage being done by these factories, and sought to know whether the required NOCs have been obtained from the departments concerned.
“To run such factories, there is a need of coal and quartzite stones as primary raw materials; but in our state, extraction of coal has been banned since 2012-13 and there is no record of purchase or demand of quartzite stones by said factories,” he said.
Pangu also questioned where the raw materials for running such factories come from.
“They are running these factories under the nose of the government regulatory agencies, in collusion with some of the top politicians and influential people of the state, ignoring the potential environmental consequences and other pollution-related issues raised by the general public, thus amassing a huge amount of money by fraudulent means, taking advantage of various loopholes in the system and the subsidies which are meant for encouraging the establishment of industries and factories which can benefit the resident of the state and ultimately boost the economy of the state.
“But in this particular case, all the proceeds and benefits are being enjoyed by these outsiders. We are left with the polluted environment only,” the ADF later stated in a press release.
The ADP said it had submitted a complaint to the state government, seeking an inquiry into these businesses, “but no action has been initiated till date.”
The party urged the state government to “recommend central agencies like CBI, ED and Income Tax to inquire into corrupt practices with all the members associated with the abovementioned factories.”
“The Arunachal Democratic Party has an objective to protect the rights and privileges of the indigenous people of the state, as well as its natural resources, which include mineral and forest resources, and we are committed to do so,” it said.
