5-day cop remand for Tripura ICA official

AGARTALA: The deputy director of information and cultural affairs (ICA) department, Bimal Chakraborty, was sent to five-day police remand on Thursday after he surrendered before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate.
Chakraborty is the prime accused in the embezzlement of MGNREGA funds to the tune of Rs 16.83 lakh during his tenure as the block development officer in Bishalgarh.On September 19, the present BDO, Subrata Das, lodged an FIR against Chakraborty and 11 other officials in the local police station.
The state government suspended Chakraborty suspended him last Monday, a month after the FIR was lodged.
Charkaborty was accompanied by his lawyer when he surrendered before the court on Thursday. Police then sought his custody for 10 days. However, the court remanded him for five days. He will be produced before the court again on Monday.
Early this year, the state audit department had revealed misappropriation of funds worth Rs 16.83 crore sanctioned under MGNREGA scheme in seven village panchayats.
Sources said audit officials had found that during Chakraborty’s tenure as BDO, the total amount of misappropriation was more than Rs 44 crore.
After completion of audit in the seven panchayats, the then finance minister Badal Choudhury had asked the administration to lodge an FIR against Chakraborty and others within a week on May 19.
On May 23, Choudhury was shifted from the finance to health department. The finance portfolio went to Bishalgarh MLA Bhanu Lal Saha.
The opposition blamed chief minister Manik Sarkar for the delay in action against Chakarborty’s suspension. Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman said, “Chakraborty belongs to a powerful CPM family and is close to chief minister Manik Sarkar. His elder brother, Amal Chakraborty, is DYFI secretary.”