‘Was offered Rs 1.5 cr by govt agent to sell community land’
SHILLONG: In a new twist to the ongoing controversy, the suspended Sordar of Shnat Raid Tynring Dorbar, CA Diengdoh has alleged that he was offered Rs 1.5 crore by an “agent of the State Government” to give green signal to the Urban Affairs department to acquire the 80 acres of the Raid land (community land) under the village.
“I was offered the amount to give the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the two women of the village (Shimtimai Mylliempdah and Streamlet Mylliempdah) to claim their ownership over the 80 acres of land which the Government wanted to acquire,” Diengdoh said while addressing newsmen here on Monday.
He further claimed that the two women owned only 2-3 acres of land, and ever since he refused to give the NOC they along with a few villagers began conspiring against him.
“If I wanted the money, I could have easily convinced villagers that the two women possessed all the valid land documents for the land,” he added.
Diengdoh also accused the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) of creating division among the residents of the village.
It may be mentioned that Diengdoh was put under suspension by the KHADC on March 26, following a petition filed by the Seng Longkmie and Seng Samla Shnong of Tynring village accusing him of abusing his power.
On accusations made by Sohryngkham MDC, Pyniaid Sing Syiem that he along with other members of the executive committee of the village had given the power of attorney to the treasurer of the village dorbar, Marshall Nongrum to sell 1000 acres of village land to MUDA, he said that the decision to give the power of attorney was taken at a meeting of the Dorbar on April 30, 2011 after the MUDA identified the land which was suitable for construction of a road to connect the village with Shillong Bye pass.
“We had agreed to sell the 1000 acres of land at Umsohlang since it was not fit for any agricultural activity. In the meeting, the villagers had unanimously decided to allow MUDA to acquire the land and it was also decided that the power attorney would be given to Nongrum to finalize the deal with the Government on behalf of the Dorbar,” he added. The suspended Sordar, however, revealed that the move to sell the 1000 acres of land was cancelled after the MUDA inspected the land.
Later, the MUDA decided to acquire around 2000 acres of land at Mawpdang, he said.
Reiterating that the issue of selling the land came to an end in 2011, Diengdoh said, “There is no more deal between MUDA and the village dorbar. The village is still preserving land measuring 4000 to 5000 acres for the purpose of agricultural activity and ginger cultivation and it is totally opposed to selling of community land.”
While questioning the decision of the KHADC Executive Committee to put him under suspension, Diengdoh said, “The decision to remove me is politically motivated. Till now, I am not aware on what grounds the Council suspended me,” he added.
Earlier, the villagers who accompanied Diengdoh said that the Seng Longkmie was dissolved way back in April 18, 2011 even as they categorically stated that there is no Seng Samla (local youth organization) in the village. In a press conference convened last week, Seng Longkmie president, P Kharmuti had made several allegations against Diengdoh accusing him of corruption and abuse of power.