KHLIEHRIAT, July 15: The Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) on Monday lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills, against Sevenborn Tang, who claims to be a lessee or agent of the Forest department under the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), for operating forest checkpoints and revenue stations.
The FIR was filed under the leadership of HITO general secretary Wanbun N Dkhar, accompanied by the president of the organisation’s East Jaintia Hills District unit, Deibormi Rymbai, and co-founder Lawyerson War. According to documents obtained by HITO through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, from the office of the Chief Forest Officer (CFO) of JHADC, it was clearly stated that the Council has not appointed any agents to operate these forest checkpoints.
HITO alleged that these operations were being carried out in collusion with certain Members of the District Council (MDCs) from the ruling side, for their personal gain and not in the interest of the Council as a whole.
Wanbun Dkhar further stated that the organisation pursued the matter after witnessing the financial distress faced by the JHADC, which is reportedly struggling even to pay salaries to its employees. He claimed that the unauthorized collection of funds at the forest checkpoints benefits only a select few MDCs, thereby putting the future of the entire Council at risk.
In the FIR, HITO demanded that Sevenborn Tang return all the money allegedly collected illegally at the checkpoints from December 2024 to June 2025.
