Mizoram Court jails two LADC officials for issuing fake land certificates

Aizawl: The Special Court (Prevention of Corruption) in Aizawl has sentenced two officials of the Land Revenue Department under the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district to one year and six months in prison for issuing fake land settlement certificates (LSCs), an official said on Tuesday.

The special court announced the sentence on Monday and imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on each of the two officials, he added.

On September 24, Special Judge F. Rohlupuia convicted T. Zairikhima and B. Hrangchhuma, both circle supervisors in the Land Revenue Department of the LADC, under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, read with Sections 420 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code. The court found them guilty of issuing fake LSCs to landowners, the official said.

These landowners received compensation for lands allegedly acquired for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP), he added.

Authorities immediately sent Zairikhima to Central Jail in Aizawl’s Tanhril locality after the court pronounced the sentence on Monday.

However, authorities have not yet taken Hrangchhuma to jail because he is recovering from a stroke and continues to face health issues.

The officials issued the LSCs to landowners who claimed their lands were acquired for the KMMTTP, which connects Lawngtlai in southern Mizoram to Zochachhuah on the Myanmar border.

In addition to the two convicted officials, the case also implicated 120 landowners suspected of involvement in the fraudulent issuance of LSCs.

However, the court acquitted the landowners due to insufficient evidence, despite initial investigations raising doubts about the legitimacy of the certificates.

The investigation revealed that officials had processed some of the LSCs on government holidays and weekends, further casting doubt on their authenticity.

The KMMTTP is a bilateral infrastructure project between the governments of India and Myanmar aimed at establishing sea and road connectivity between the two countries.

Launched by the erstwhile UPA government in 2008, the project, upon completion, will first connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata to Myanmar’s Sittwe seaport across the Bay of Bengal, covering a distance of 539 km.

From Sittwe, the route will extend along the Kaladan River to the town of Paletwa in western Myanmar.

A 110-km-long road will then link Paletwa to the India-Myanmar border.

From there, the international border will connect by road to Lawngtlai, the southernmost town in Mizoram, located 87.18 km away, where National Highway 306 (formerly NH-54) passes by.