Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: A Special Judicial Magistrate’s Court has granted bail to three officials implicated in a major financial scandal at the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation (AFDC). Birinchi Adhikari, Padmakanta Hazarika, and Jyotish Saikia were released as the investigation continues into widespread misconduct at the state-run entity.
Legal experts suggest the trio secured bail partly because of procedural failures during the police investigation. Reports indicate that the investigating officer failed to notify the court about Dispur Police Station Case No. 298/2022, a matter directly linked to the current probe. Additionally, Padmakanta Hazarika received relief on health grounds, following a previous bail order he secured from the Gauhati High Court regarding a separate aspect of the case.
The investigation focuses on suspected irregularities between 2017 and 2021, a period spanning the tenure of former AFDC chairman and Morigaon BJP MLA Ramakanta Deuri. Investigators allege that approximately Rs 7.14 crore was siphoned from the corporation into private bank accounts, violating established government financial norms. Authorities suspect that contractors, employees, and other individuals colluded to divert these funds.
The official case was first registered at the Dispur Police Station in 2022. As the process continues, investigators are looking into allegations of deep-seated collusion, noting that "large-scale financial irregularities occurred between 2017 and 2021, during which crores of rupees were allegedly diverted to the personal accounts of employees, contractors and other individuals."
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