Tripura: Panchayat Secretary arrested on graft charge

Agartala: A Panchayat secretary who was put on suspension a few days ago was arrested on Saturday for his alleged involvement in the financial irregularities of Shrinathpur Gram Panchayat of Kailashahar in Tripura’s Unokoti district.
Police said the accused is identified as Amir Ali, a resident of the nearby locality along the Indo-Bangladesh border. The Block Development Officer of Gouranagar rural development block lodged an FIR with the Iranian police station against Ali, accusing him of siphoning Rs 36 lakh meant for providing the installation of different types of tube wells for the farmers.
“The accused served at the Shrinathpur Panchayat in two tenures between fiscal years 2016–17 and 2019–20.
During the period, Rs 36 lakh was sanctioned in phases for the installation of 33 deep tube wells. The government documents revealed Ali had withdrawn the funds for utilisation, but later the audit found no work had been done,” the complaint read.
The investigating officer of the case, Jitendra Das, said besides Ali, some other names also emerged in the case, and soon the police would arrest them. The accused Panchayat Secretary was on the run for one year, and based on secret information, he was arrested in Kailashahar town.