Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The key accused in a case related to misappropriation of funds from the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd (AFDCL) was arrested in Puri, Odisha, by a team of sleuths from the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, Assam, on Saturday.
After his arrest, the key accused, identified as Padma Kanta Hazarika, the then OSD cum Project Director of AFDCL, was produced before a court in Puri last night by the team, and the court granted 4 days’ transit remand for bringing the accused person to Guwahati.
Simultaneously, teams of the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, Assam, conducted a search in three flats located under the Hatigaon police station in Guwahati belonging to the arrested accused Padma Kanta Hazarika. During the search, the team recovered and seized a large number of incriminating documents, five seals in the names of different organisations/councils, a banknote counting machine, and other items in connection with ACB case no. 30/2023.
Earlier, teams from the Directorate of V & AC launched a statewide crackdown on May 26 over the misappropriation of AFDCL funds and arrested eight officials, including retired ones. The anti-corruption agency carried out coordinated searches across multiple locations in Guwahati, Nalbari, Dhubri, Bajali and Nagaon districts and apprehended eight former officials and employees in connection with the case.
Those apprehended during the operation included former Managing Director of AFDCL Anuradha Adhikary Sarma from Kahilipara, former executive engineers Jyotish Saikia from Satgaon and Birinchi Adhikary from Gandhibasti and former assistant engineer Saburuddin Ahmed from Hatigaon in Guwahati; former assistant executive engineer Jyoti Prasad Saikia from Raha in the Nagaon district; former project manager Bhogirath Das from Gauripur; former assistant technical officer Rabindra Narayan Deka from Belsor in the Nalbari district; and Naren Chandra Basumatary, the then AFDCL MD and present Joint Secretary in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department from Patacharkuchi in the Bajali district.
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