KHONSA, 3 Feb: Hangpong Besai, who was recently arrested by a joint team of the Tirap police’s anti-drug squad and the CRPF for peddling drugs, has been accused of posing as the gram panchayat chairperson (GPC) of New Ngonthong/New Changyak village.
Besai was arrested on 31 January in a joint operation.
During initial investigation on Tuesday, the police team searched the residence of the accused and seized several rubber stamps with ‘Shri Hangpong Besai, GPC Ngonthong (New Changyak) village, Tirap district, Arunachal Pradesh’ engraved on them.
It later emerged that the accused is in fact a gram panchayat member and not the GPC of Ngonthong (New Changyak) village.
District Development & Panchayat Officer Hakrisho Kri informed this daily on Thursday that the member secretary/circle officer of the area had reportedly warned the accused against using the GPC stamp on several occasions earlier.
“We are not sure if the accused misused the stamps in any way after the warning, but I have sought a report from the member secretary/circle officer of the area and am yet to receive the same. Once I receive the report, further action can be initiated. We will initiate his disqualification from the gram panchayat membership and file a case for impersonation. Since he is currently under trial, these actions can be taken only after his conviction,” Kri said.
