Tripura: CBI court convicts four in bamboo artisan training scam

Agartala: A CBI court in Agartala capital city of Tripura, on Friday convicted four individuals, including a former government official, for forgery and misappropriation of funds intended for training bamboo artisans.

Advocate Prabir Saha, representing the CBI, confirmed the verdict.

The case originated in 2012 when the CBI launched an investigation into allegations of corruption involving the NGO Women Development Society. The NGO, in collaboration with a Marketing Instructor from Tripura Bamboo Mission, was accused of fabricating documents and securing utilization certificates for training programs that were never conducted.

The organization received funds between Rs 4 to 5 lakh per program, but the money was misappropriated instead of being used for artisan training. Following the detection of financial irregularities, authorities transferred the case to the CBI.

After a decade-long trial, during which the court examined 48 witnesses, the verdict was delivered. Former government official Achit Kumar Das was sentenced to five years in jail under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Three other accused-Sanjay Debnath, Kalpana Debnath, and Kamal Krishna Debnath were convicted under IPC sections 120B, 420, and 468. They each received a four-year jail term along with a monetary penalty.