Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 6 Jan: Reacting to the East Kameng Social Welfare & Cultural Organisation’s (EKSWCO) demand for the arrest of all involved officials, including former East Kameng deputy commissioner Himanshu Nigam, in the Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway compensation scam, Chief Minister Pema Khandu stated on Tuesday that whoever is found guilty after the investigation would face strict action.
The chief minister’s remark came during a press briefing on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vikshit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin) at the party headquarters here.
“The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is investigating the matter. Whoever is found guilty after investigation in the Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway compensation scam will face strict action,” the chief minister reaffirmed.
From the government’s end, the land department secretary has constituted four committees to reassess the entire stretch, and the reassessment will begin soon, he added.
On the EKSWCO’s demand to let the scam be investigated by central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Khandu said that the state government cannot direct central agencies like the the ED and the CBI to investigate. He added that central agencies will take their independent decision. “Since the project involves central government funds, if they consider it worth investigating, they will surely do so,” he said.
The EKSWCO also raised the question of why the ACB has arrested only former DLRSO Takam Kechak but not the other involved officials, bank managers, and brokers who played an equal role in siphoning off government money.
The Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway compensation issue has remained contentious over the past few months, ever since reports of alleged gross anomalies in the disbursement of compensation money surfaced.
