Guwahati, Oct 30: After nearly 34 years, a Special CBI Court in Guwahati has delivered a verdict on the Rs 200 crore Letter of Credit (LoC) scam involving Assam’s Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department. The scandal, originating in the 1990s, implicated senior officials and political figures, including then-Chief Ministers Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and the late Hiteswar Saikia.
Five individuals were convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, along with a collective fine of Rs 1.6 lakh. The convicted include M. Rahman, the manager of the Duck Breeding Farm in Phuroni; B.N. Chakraborty, an upper division assistant in the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department; and three private individuals: Jayanta Sharma, T.K. Das, and Pranab Saikia.
The scam involved fraudulent withdrawals amounting to Rs 200 crore through fake bills, making it one of the state’s most notable corruption cases of that period. Seven other defendants were acquitted by the court.
M. Rahman received two years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 35,000; B.N. Chakraborty was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000; Jayanta Sharma received three years and a fine of Rs 40,000; T.K. Das was sentenced to three years and fined Rs 50,000; and Pranab Saikia was given one and a half years with a fine of Rs 10,000.
Those acquitted include D. Purakayastha, D. Sonowal, D. Laskar, Tutu Chetry, H. Vaipei, A. Kro, and Jadav Gogoi.
The scam surfaced during Hiteswar Saikia’s tenure (1991-96) when the case was transferred to the CBI, which re-registered it on May 17, 1994, following an FIR by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 1993. Investigations alleged that Dr. T. Buragohain, then Additional Director of the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department (Hills), Haflong, conspired with others, including public servants and private individuals, to fabricate bills amounting to Rs 1,74,86,827. This amount was withdrawn without valid justification in 1991-92, resulting in considerable financial losses to the government.
The investigation implicated several high-ranking officials and reached political leaders, including former Chief Ministers Mahanta and Saikia. After the CBI filed a charge sheet on May 13, 1994, the case saw a prolonged trial during which many accused passed away, leaving only 12 of the original 34 accused by the case’s end.
The case began during Mahanta’s tenure and extended under Saikia’s administration. Amid political pressure, Saikia eventually handed the case over to the CBI. Following Saikia’s death, the CBI pursued charges against Mahanta, but the then-Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) S.K. Sinha denied prosecution, stalling the case. The case was revived in 2010 during Tarun Gogoi’s government, culminating in Tuesday’s verdict.
The principal accused, Rajendra Prasad Borah, passed away from a kidney ailment in April 2023.
