TURA: One among the two contractors who have been named by an RTI activist of being part of an alleged ring led by Asanang MDC to siphon off developmental funds from the GHADC has denied any involvement.
RTI activist Nilbath Ch Marak had filed a case with the state Lokayukta revealing that Asanang MDC Ismail R Marak withdrew council funds worth almost a crore without carrying out any of the developmental works in his constituency.
According to the case documents, the projects were taken out under the names of two local contractors, namely Nikseng A Sangma and Kubon Sangma and the money was also withdrawn allegedly by both contractors at the behest of the MDC.
Meanwhile, one of the accused contractors, Nikseng Sangma, has claimed that he is not involved in any tender for works of the council.
“ I have not applied for any MDC schemes nor GHADC works. Someone has used my name and tarnished my image,” claim the contractor even though the RTI activist has explicitly named him as one of the beneficiaries of the alleged scam.
The case involves developmental funds for the year 2017 and 2018 for Asanang constituency where RTI findings reportedly revealed that the sitting MDC Ismail Marak had put up several works for development of the constituency but allegedly did not implement though the money was withdrawn.
While the accused contractor continues to maintain his innocence, the RTI activist Nilbath Marak said that there is enough evidence to prosecute the MDC and the contractors for corruption.