Special Judge Court awards Mohot Talukdar rigorous imprisonment, imposes a fine of Rs 45 lakh
BY OUR STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, Dec 28: The long arm of the law filly caught up with former Divisiol Forest Officer (DFO) of Dhemaji Mohot Talukdar, who was convicted on corruption charges.
The Special Judge Court here on Thursday sentenced the beleaguered DFO to four and five years of rigorous imprisonment respectively under two different Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, besides imposing a total fine of Rs 45 lakh on him.
Talukdar was awarded four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Court. In case of default in payment of fine, he would have to serve an additiol one year in jail, the court ruled.
The Special Judge Court also awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh to the DFO under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Though Talukdar was awarded different prison terms, he will have to undergo only one of them – the longest term of five years – as both the jail terms will run simultaneously. Also, his period under custody will be deducted from the jail term. But, he will have to cough up Rs 45 lakh in fines.
It may be mentioned that Talukdar was arrested by Vigilance and Anti-corruption wing of Assam Police in June last year after being caught red-handed while accepting Rs 30,000 in cash as bribe. Subsequently, his office quarter and private residence were raided that led to a recovery of Rs 2.17 crore in cash.
Also, wild animal body parts like tiger skin, deer skin, elephant tusks, etc, were recovered from his residence.
Though the Special Judge Court convicted him under Prevention of Corruption Act, he was exonerated from Section 51 under the Wildlife Act that was levelled against him.
This is the first major conviction of a senior State government official on corruption charge ever since the Sarbanda Sonowal-led Government swept to power in May 2016. The Chief Minister has reiterated on more than one occasion of his Government’s zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.