Itanagar:
An additional deputy commissioner (ADC) level officer of the Arunachal Pradesh government and another person were arrested for their alleged involvement in a multi-crore land compensation scam in Anjaw district bordering China, police said on Sunday.
The sleuths of Special Investigation Cell (SIC) of the state police arrested Sode Potom, who is currently posted as the ADC of Likabali in Lower Siang district, on Saturday.
Potom was allegedly involved in the scam when he was posted as the ADC of Hayuliang in Anjaw district. It is claimed that only Rs 2.21 crore of the sanctioned Rs 24 crore reached the actual beneficiaries, officials said.
Choliangso Kora, a resident of Anjaw district, was also apprehended, a senior police officer said.
The two were produced before a court on Sunday, which remanded to three days police custody, Superintendent of Police, SIC (Vigilance), Mandava Harsha Vardhan, said.
To strengthen the forward areas in Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Ministry in 2014 sanctioned an ambitious 9.5-km- long road connecting remote Chaglagam village to Rocham in Anjaw district, officials said.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the executing agency, in 2017 carried out a land acquisition survey in a 3 km stretch of the proposed road and Rs 24 crore was sanctioned as compensation amount to be paid to landowners.
However, the beneficiaries received only Rs 2.21 crore and the remaining portion was allegedly siphoned off.
A group of people gained power of attorney from the beneficiaries by misguiding them, officials said adding that the two accused were named by the landowners.
Anjaw Deputy Commissioner Dagbom Riba said, Potom’s name also cropped up after it was found out that the compensation amount was transferred by the BRO to the ADC’s bank account, instead of that of the DC.
“The arrests were made after monetary trails were uncovered by the SIC during investigations,” Vardhan said.
