Ex-govt official & 3 others convicted in Tripura fund embezzlement case
CBI took up the investigation in the year 2012 after corruption charges were levelled against an NGO named Women Development Society.
A picture of three convicts involved in embezzlement scam.
Agratala, Mar 7: A CBI court on Friday convicted four persons, including an ex-government official, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for their involvement in forgery and defalcation of funds for the training of bamboo artisans. Advocate Prabir Saha, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Prabir Saha confirmed the verdict on Friday.
The four individuals have been identified as Sanjay Debnath, Kalpana Debnath, Kamal Krishna Debnath and Achit Kumar Das who is also an ex-government employee.
According to Saha, CBI took up the investigation in 2012 following allegations of corruption against an NGO named Women Development Society. It was alleged that the NGO, with the help of a marketing instructor of the Tripura Bamboo Mission, created fake documentary evidence and obtained utilisation certificates of training programmes of bamboo artisans funded by the Tripura Bamboo Mission, which were never conducted.
The NGO received funds, ranging from four to five lakhs rupee, for training programmes intended for bamboo artisans. However, as soon as the matter came to light, authorities initiated and investigation,which was later transferred to the CBI.
“The chargesheet was filed in 2015. For the last ten years, the trail of cases continued in phases. A total of 48 witnesses were examined before the pronouncement of the final judgement. The court convicted four individuals in connection with the case. Three of them who were found guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 120 B, 420, and 468 had been sentenced to four years in jail with a cash penalty," said Saha.
According to Saha charges under Prevention of Corruption Act were also invoked against Achit Kumar Das, the ex-government employee who was also found guilty, leading to five years prison sentence.
With the court's verdict, this decade-long legal battle comes to a close, reaffirming the judicial system’s commitment to addressing corruption and fraud.