Former Mizoram CM got Rs 37 lakhs worth of materials delivered to his private farm: Inquiry Officer

The officer also said Zoramthanga and his wife Roneihsangi allegedly amassed Rs 66 lakhs worth of assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The Inquiry Officer in an alleged corruption scandal involving former Mizoram CM Zoramthanga has testified before a special anti-graft court that the two-time CM got Rs 37 lakhs worth of materials delivered by the Agriculture Department to his private farm near Aizawl in 2001.

P C Lalrinmawia, Asst. Commandant of the 3rd battalion, Mizoram Armed Police, and a former Anti-Corruption Bureau Inspector, also said Zoramthanga illegally channelled an unspecified amount of government funds to the Mizo National Front’s coffers and used it to build the Martyr’s Graveyard in Aizawl, which commemorates those who died during the Mizo insurgency.

The officer also said Zoramthanga and his wife Roneihsangi allegedly amassed Rs 66 lakhs worth of assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. He based this on comparisons between the income affidavits filed by Zoramthanga before the 2003 and 2008 state-wide elections and the couple’s salaries as CM and government clerk respectively.

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Upon cross-examination by Zoramthanga’s lawyer C Lalramzauva, however, the police officer said he offered no explanation while submitting the FIR almost 9 years after the alleged wrongdoings and confirmed the case was initiated at a time Zoramthanga’s main political opponent Lal Thanhawla was the CM with the Vigilance Department among the portfolios he handled.

He however did not agree to a suggestion by Zoramthanga’s lawyer that the graft case could have been initiated with political vendetta in mind.

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