Mizoram court sentences two officials to jail for issuing fake land settlement certificates

Aizawl, Sep 30 (PTI) A court in Aizawl has sentenced two officials from the Land Revenue Department of the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in Mizoram's Lawngtlai district to one-and-half-year imprisonment each for issuing fake land settlement certificates, an official said on Tuesday.

Special Court (Prevention of Corruption) judge F Rohlupuia on Monday also imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh each on the two officials, T Zairikhima and B Hrangchhuma, both circle supervisors of the Land Revenue Department of LADC, he said.

They were involved in issuing fake LSCs to landowners whose lands were purportedly acquired for Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP), which connects Lawngtlai in southern Mizoram to Zochachhuah along the India-Myanmar border.

Besides the two convicted persons, the case also implicated 120 landowners who were suspected of being involved in the fraudulent issuance of LSCs.

However, the court acquitted the landowners due to insufficient evidence, even though initial investigations suggested that the LSCs were issued under questionable circumstances.

The investigation revealed that some of the LSCs were processed on government holidays, including weekends, raising further doubts about their legitimacy.

The KMMTTP is a bilateral project of the India and Myanmar governments to connect both countries by sea route and road transport.

Launched by the erstwhile UPA government in 2008, the project, when completed, would first link the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata to Sittwe seaport in Myanmar across the Bay of Bengal, a distance of 539 km.

From Sittwe, the route will continue over River Kaladan to the western Myanmarese town of Paletwa. Paletwa will then be connected to the India-Myanmar border by a 110-km-long road. The international border will then be connected by road with Mizoram's Lawngtlai town 87.18 km away. PTI CORR ACD