Ranger of Jonai Range Division arrested on corruption charges

The complainant Sandip Das of Jonai is a proprietor of a wood furniture industry in Jonai town and sells furniture items in his showroom in Jonai town. He sometimes brings timber from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh for making furniture items. The Dhemaji Forest Division officials had detained his truck bearing registration number AS-07-C-2996 sometime back along with the timber and pulled the vehicle to the Dhemaji DFO office. But till date the copy of seizure list has not been issued. Again, on February 22, 2020, while he was transporting timber purchased from Pashighat to Silapathar in a rental truck with valid documents, one Makhan Islam, a Ranger of the forest department at Jonai, detained the truck and brought the same to Jonai Range Office and released the truck without observing any formalities but the timber belonging to the complainant was not released.

When Sandip Das approached Makhan Islam, the forest Ranger, to get back his truck with registration number AS-07-C-2996, which was detained on previous occasion, along with the legal timber seized recently and the documents, Makhan Islam demanded bribe of Rs. 2 lakh and also threatened the complainant to confiscate his truck and warned him of arrest if he failed to do so. In this regard, on March 21 the complainant also met Safiqur Rahman, DFO of Dhemaji district, and informed him the whole matter but the DFO did not address the issue and sent him back and asked him to contact Ranger Makhan Islam to settle the matter.

As per direction of Safiqur Rahman, DFO, Dhemaji, the complainant approached Ranger Makhan Islam again to settle the matter but the Ranger once again demanded money amounting to Rs 2 lakh for him and for the DFO, Dhemaji. Due to the lockdown and under threat of arrest, the complainant Sanjib Das was compelled to pay an amount of Rs. 1,65,000 to Makhan Islam, Ranger. A part of the amount was paid through Pradip Das, a Forester of Jonai. With passage of time, some well-wishers advised the complainant to approach the Anti-Corruption Office to lodge a written complaint.

On June 5, the Ranger again asked the complainant to deliver additional bribe money amounting to Rs 1 lakh for Safiqur Rahman, DFO of Dhemaji. As the complainant Sandip Das was not willing to pay any more bribe and lockdown had been lifted, he came to Guwahati to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti- Corruption, and lodged a written complaint. After verification of complaint, a case vide ACB PS case no. 06/2020 u/s 7/7(a)/13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, was registered on June 17.

A team of ACB investigators, led by Superintendent of Police Sumeet Sharma, immediately left for Dhemaji. On Thursday, after further negotiation, the remaining bribe amount of Rs. 55,000 was to be handed over as demanded and the ACB team laid a trap. When the complainant contacted the accused in the morning, the accused called him to come to Lakhimpur to deliver the amount but later changed the location to Swagata Dhaba, in Dhemaji. Thereafter, once again on contacting the accused , the accused changed the venue and asked him to come to Silapathar and meet him on the highway to deliver the amount. Accordingly, the ACB team followed the complainant to the location.

At about 2.30pm at Kanibeel under Silapather PS on the NH-15 to Silapathar, the accused was spotted waiting and the complainant reached the spot. The complainant handed over the bribe money as sought for by the accused and immediately thereafter, he was caught red-handed by the ACB team which was following the complainant's vehicle at a distance and recovered the bribe money from below the seat of the Maruti Vitara Brezza car of the accused Ranger.

Ranger Makhan Islam was arrested in connection with the case and the role of the DFO Dhemaji, Safiqur Rehman, is being investigated and he has been summoned for examination. The truck of complainant was found standing in the compound of the office of DFO Dhemaji and seized.

Forester Pradip Das of range forest office, Dhemaji, has also been summoned for questioning. The office and residential premises of the DFO and the Ranger were searched in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Guwahati and Jonai by ACB teams with assistance of local police.

The arrested person will be produced before the magistrate on Friday in Dhemaji for taking transit remand to bring him to Guwahati, for production before the Special Court, Guwahati.

Also watch: Evening Bulletin | 18th June, 2020