Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jul 26: The Arunachal Justice Forum (AJF) on Thursday alleged that Yamot Gao, the wife of state BJP president Tapir Gao, encroached on land belonging to the District Library & Information Centre (DLIC) in Naharlagun and constructing a multi-storeyed building on the plot.
Addressing journalists at the press club here, AJF president Nabam Tagam claimed that Gao was allotted land near the DLIC, in D Sector, Naharlagun, by the state government, but the plot overlapped the area which had already been allotted to the DLIC by the state government in February 1982.
Tagam said that by constructing a multi-storied building on the encroached land, Gao left “only a narrow passage which obstructs movement of the department’s staff and official vehicles going to the office building.”
Citing official documents, Tagam informed that the district library and information officer (DLIO) had in a letter, dated 04.04.2017, informed Gao that the narrow entrance gate constructed by her was obstructing the approach path to the DLIC, and had asked her to dismantle the gate.
The DLIO had also asked her to shift the septic tank built within the premises of the DLIC, Tagam said.
“When she did not respond to any of the requests, the DLIO wrote another complaint letter, dated 15.03.2018, to her, demanding shifting of the septic tank and widening of the passage. But she did not pay any heed to the repeated requests,” he claimed.
The forum further claimed that, despite its filing a complaint on 15 July to the chief estate officer (CEO), Itanagar, seeking immediate action against Gao for encroaching on the DLIO’s property, no action has as yet been initiated from the CEO’s end.
‘Allegation unfounded’
Meanwhile, responding to the allegation that he possesses disproportionate assets, state BJP president Tapir Gao clarified that all his properties were accumulated through proper channel and in conformity with all required land allotment formalities.
Terming the allegation “shocking” and “unfounded,” Gao said he is “ready to challenge the claim made by ACS general secretary Nabam Tagar, in court, by bringing all required documents to prove my innocence in the matter.
“All the properties I have today are built up with hard work, without misusing the constitutional office or political power,” Gao said, adding that all of the properties that Tagar accused him of obtaining by means of political power were already built long before he (Gao) became a member of parliament and the president of the state BJP.