Home minister Imkong L. Imchen said the government had already constituted an inquiry committee headed by principal secretary and agriculture production commissioner H.K. Khulu. The report will be submitted to the state government within three months.
He added that despite the fact that there actually might not be any fraudulent withdrawal, there were procedural lapses in the withdrawal that need to be probed. The inquiry committee’s report will later be forwarded to the public accounts committee of the state Assembly.
The CAG had pointed out the withdrawal against fictitious bills in its latest report and had directed the state government to investigate the matter.
The report had stated that review of a fully vouched contingent bill (no. 111) from the DGP’s office, received by the state accountant general’s office through the treasury for compilation of accounts, revealed several inconsistencies like totalling errors and abnormally low rates for certain items. These, the report said, were prima facie indications of fraudulent payments.
Further investigation by the CAG in the ordinance factory at Khamaria, Jabalpur, revealed that not only were the bills fraudulent, but also the arms and ammunition specified in the bills were not produced by the factory. The department of trade and taxes, New Delhi, also confirmed that the organisation that issued the bills was neither registered nor was it functioning in the address mentioned in the bills, the report added.
“It is evident from the above that the amounts were not paid to the entities but were misappropriated by production of fictitious bills,” the CAG stated.
“But the fact remains that a fully vouched contingent bill was received in the accountant general’s office through the treasury and all the purchases shown in the sub-vouchers attached to the bills have been found to be fictitious,” the CAG stated in its report.
The CAG report also pointed out fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 9.11 lakh by the Dimapur superintendent of police by inflating pay bills for eight months, from March to October 2009.
The police engineering division, Chumukedima, had also fraudulently drawn Rs 4.11 lakh through fictitious bills and Rs 2.92 lakh though inflated salary bills, the report added.