ACAUT says the racket moved base to Khatkhati following exposé
Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 27
A man implicated in the fuel adulteration case, exposed by the Against Corruption & Unabated Taxation(ACAUT), Nagaland in June 2016, has been arrested in Assam in a similar case. The arrest occurred on October 1.
The man, identified as Dinanath, was one of five named by the Dimapur police in the case. A Special Investigation Team of the Nagaland Police instituted to probe the exposé framed charges against the five in November 2016 following a five-month long investigation. All five obtained bail while the court trial continues.
The arrest of Dinanath made news in Nagaland only on October 27 through social media with the ex-DGP Rupin Sharma posting the news of the development on the Nagaland DGP’s official Facebook page.
As per independent sources, Dinanath was arrested at Khatkhati by the Assam Police on October 1 in connection to a case registered at the Rangiya Police Station, Kamrup Rural district. The sources disclosed that his arrest was preceded by an incident wherein an oil tanker purportedly transporting adulterated fuel was intercepted at Rangiya by the police. The date of that incident could not be ascertained but the sources said that the trail led to Dinanath in Khatkhati where he was arrested.
The sources held that following the exposé by the ACAUT, the then existing fuel adulteration units in Dimapur was relocated to Khatkhati. There also, it reportedly came under the scanner of the Karbi civil society and eventually the Assam authorities.
ACAUT members when contacted said that the public outcry in the aftermath of the exposé must have forced the people behind the adulteration racket to move base across the state border.
ACAUT ask Nagaland Police to coordinate with Assam counterpart
The ACAUT reacting to the development issued a press release late today. “The ACAUT Nagaland is hopeful that this arrest by the Assam police will only strengthen the case” against people named in the chargesheet filed by the SIT in court, the release said.
It held that one of the accused named in the Dimapur case moved the “fuel adulteration unit to Khatkhati” using siphoned government subsidised kerosene from Dimapur.
While it asked the Nagaland Police to co-ordinate with its counterpart in Assam to get to the root of the matter, it maintained that the accused persons “along with all corrupted officials and the syndicate mafias, who are part of the illegal racket be brought to justice.”
It further sought to clarify on “aspersions” cast on the ACAUT in connection to the case. It said, “ACAUT believes in the "Rule of Law" and ACAUT members have been patiently co-operating and for the past 2 years appearing for summons and court hearings and has been giving necessary information both to the investigating agencies and news reporters from outside the state.”
Given the new turn of event, it expressed hope that the justice system would prevail for a fair and final judgment.
