7 Assam Ministers, Former Governor Named in NIA Report on Rs 1,000-Cr NC Hills Scam

The Week observes thus: “The Centre will have to make a political decision in this case as Assam is ruled by the Congress. Those days are long gone, in which our politicians put honesty above power. So there is no option for the Centre but to go soft as stern action would lead to the collapse of the Gogoi Government and damage the Congress’ image... Assam is now making all efforts to sweep the probe under the carpet...

Observers say his (Gogoi’s) next move will be to shift all blame on to Ajai Singh (former Governor), who was close to the BJP. The Centre will also get a scapegoat that way.

So it is checkmate. Who lost? The taxpayer.”  

Guwahati, Feb 18 : The startling revelation by The Week in its February 7, 2010 issue — that the names of seven Assam ministers, a Congress MP, a Congress MLA and a former Governor figure in the report of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the embezzlement of development funds meant for NC Hills district — has landed the Tarun Gogoi Government in troubled waters. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi held meetings at various levels today in the wake of the sensational Week report on the Rs 1,000-crore scam unearthed by the NIA.

The seven ministers whose names figure in the NIA report are Rockybul Hussain, Khorsing Ingty, Akon Bora, Chandan Brahma, Gautam Roy, Ajanta Neog and Himanta Biswa Sarma, while the names of Congress’ Haflong MLA GC Langthasa, Kaliabor MP Dip Gogoi and former Assam Governor Lt Gen (retd) Ajai Singh also figure in the NIA report, The Week said.

The report of The Week points to strong evidence of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi having tried to protect the tainted ministers. The report said that former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta had recommended the NIA probe immediately after the alleged politician-militant nexus had come to light. “The Union Home Ministry sought Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s approval to proceed into the investigation.

As an approval was not forthcoming, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram asked the NIA to proceed. By law, the Union Home Minister doesn’t need the State’s consent to probe terror-related cases,’’ the report of The Week said, and added, quoting sources, that throughout the investigation the State Government had not cooperated with the NIA and repeatedly tried to scuttle it.

“By August 2009, the NIA had unearthed enough evidence to book a number of people and it filed a detailed report,” The Week said, and added: “Worried by the report, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the meeting of chief ministers that, among other things, he was concerned about the situation in NC Hills district. Gogoi later told the press that the premier was ‘wrongly briefed’.’’

After Gogoi’s statement, Chidambaram called Gogoi for a meeting in New Delhi on September 1, 2009 when he grilled the Chief Minister based on the reports from intelligence agencies, the NIA and the Home Secretary, The Week said, and added: “A stunned Gogoi had no concrete answers for Chidambaram’s queries... Commendably, the NIA wound up the probe in five months and 15 days. It talked to 317 witnesses and filed a charge-sheet against 14. According to the report, the nexus siphoned off Rs 1,000 crore between 2004 and mid-2009. The money formed part of the Centre’s grant for development projects under the NCHAC (North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council). But the million-dollar question is: Why did the NIA let off seven ministers, bureaucrats and a former Governor whom it named in the report?”

The report also quoted former NCHAC chief executive member Depolal Hojai as telling the NIA that he had paid Rs 50 lakh to the then Assam Governor Ajai Singh in January 2008 to secure the CEM’s post, an allegation which Hojai declined to confirm when contacted by The Week. 

The Week report also quoted a senior bureaucrat in Guwahati telling the magazine that the NIA had sought permission to interrogate the seven ministers in question, but was refused. “He said as long as these ministers were at large, the Centre would not be able to stop insurgency in Assam. Allegedly, the initial intelligence briefs had named 11 ministers as responsible for aiding the growth of DHD(J) and other insurgent groups, including the ULFA,” the report added.

One of the witnesses told the NIA that he had paid Rs 1.3 crore to a senior police officer through a junior police officer who is under suspension now, The Week report said, and added that the senior police officer (now retired) had a hand in engineering “secret killings” during the last Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Government in Assam. “Apparently, this officer had also ordered the hit on Frankie Dimasa, DHD(J)’s foreign secretary.

Frankie was killed in Guwahati within hours of DHD(J) leader Jewel Garlosa’s arrest in Bangalore. Frankie had the evidence of the money he had paid to the officer for going soft against the DHD(J),” The Week report quoted the witness as telling the NIA.

via The Sentinel Assam