Guwahati, Nov 14 (IANS) The CBI has arrested an absconding accused from Itanagar in connection with a fraud aimed at illegally availing government credit and subsidies for horticulturists, an official said on Friday.

Tonia Langkam was apprehended on Thursday in a case that pertains to the fraudulent submission of applications under the scheme ‘Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post-Harvest Management’ of the National Horticulture Board (NHB), Guwahati.

He was later produced before a Special CBI Court in Guwahati, which remanded him to judicial custody, the official said in a statement.

The CBI said the accused had been absconding since the day of the filing of the chargesheet in the fraud case in 2009.

The federal probe agency said that fraudulent proposals were filed in the names of purported applicants belonging to Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, and East Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, leading to the approval of 173 applications.

On the basis of source information, the CBI had registered the instant case on the above allegations on April 30, 2007, said the statement.

Investigation revealed that the applications and supporting documents were fabricated at the residence of accused Tarik Tolam in Guwahati, with the assistance of local youths and under the supervision of accused Tonia Langkam and his associates, for the purpose of fraudulently availing government subsidies, the CBI said.

The chargesheet in the case was filed on December 21, 2009, against Tonia Langkam and others under the relevant provisions of law.

The scheme under which the alleged fraud was done supports horticulture by providing credit and subsidies.

The National Horticulture Board’s (NHB) scheme of “Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post-Harvest Management” supports integrated horticultural development by providing credit-linked, back-ended subsidies for both production and post-harvest management.

The scheme covers open field and protected cultivation projects, including activities like planting material, irrigation, mechanisation, and Protected Agriculture, like greenhouses and shade nets.

It also supports post-harvest components like pack houses, ripening chambers, and cold storage, and is available to various eligible entities such as individuals, farmer-producer organisations, and cooperative societies.

–IANS

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