Agartala: The Crime Branch Unit (Economic Offences) of Tripura police has launched an investigation into the allegations of corruption raised regarding the land acquisition of Notingcherra tea garden located at Pabiacherra under Unakoti district of Tripura, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha told Tripura Assembly.
Serious allegations were raised against BJP MLA from Pabiachhara Bhagaban Das and some people of the area, who had tried to manipulate the process of land acquisition for the national highways and misappropriate funds.
“The Crime Branch is investigating the matter. All the aspects of the case are being examined very carefully,” the Chief Minister told the house of the assembly while replying to a starred question submitted by Congress MLA Birajit Sinha.
Sinha in his question wanted to know the present status of the case where an MLA of the ruling party is reportedly involved. Sinha said, “BJP MLA Bhagaban Das wrote a letter to the branch manager of the local bank asking him to release the funds that were freezed based on the complaints.”
CPIM MLA Jitendra Choudhury, on the other hand, said that the involvement of a lawmaker in this case is shocking and, therefore, the investigation needs to be carried out properly.
The Chief Minister assured both the MLAs that the Crime Branch would investigate the entire matter and those who were involved in this case would get punished.
On being contacted, rebel BJP leader of Chandipur Ranjan Sinha, who contested the last elections on TIPRA Motha ticket, informed EastMojo that it was a “planned heist” of public money that was prevented because of timely response from the Revenue Department.
He said the tea garden in question was owned by a Chit Fund company that left the state in 2011-12. After they left, the tea garden workers of the area had been facing a tough time for their survival.
“After the BJP government came to power in 2018, I took the initiative to form a cooperative society involving the tea garden workers for smooth functioning of the tea garden. Later, a large portion of the tea garden was acquired by the NHIDCL for the proposed national highway. A total of Rs 8.5 crore had been sanctioned by the authorities in lieu of the land acquired there,” said Sinha.
The real problem, he explained, started thereafter. One Mosabbir Ali, an ex employee of the tea garden, claimed that he owns the garden and all operations come under his direct control. He submitted all the supporting documents which were later found to be fake and tried to embezzlement the funds sanctioned for the tea garden authorities. A sum of Rs 58 lakh was released as well, he added.
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“When I came to know about this fund embezzlement, I took up the issue with the then Revenue Minister. Accordingly, the account in which the money was deposited was freezed. But within a week, the account was accessed by Mosabbir Ali. When I inquired about it, I was told by the bank that the local MLA Bhagaban Das wrote a letter to the Branch manager in his pad to give access to the account,” he added.
All these issues had been raised before the appropriate authorities and the probe was ordered. “The Crime Branch officials met me related to the investigation. I have submitted all the documents supporting my statement. My point is that since the tea garden workers are responsible for production of tea and other operations there, they should get the money,” Sinha said.
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