AGARTALA: A special court of Khowai on Wednesday convicted two retired officers of the animal resource development (ARD) department in a case of defalcation of Rs 47.55 lakh of different schemes 30 years ago in Tripura and sentenced them to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.
After hearing the case filed in 1996, special judge Angshuman Debbarma has convicted Mrinmoy Barman of Lal Chhera in Khowai town and Shiba Prasad Sengupta of Abhoynagar in Agartala under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case was registered against the then deputy director of ARD Shiba Prasad Sengupta, assistant director Krishnadhan Biswas, dairy officer Tushar Kanti Sengupta, cashier Shankar Dey and veterinary assistant Mrinmoy Barman accusing them of being involved in taking the money sanctioned for beneficiaries in 1988-89 and 1993-94.
The court found Sengupta and Barman guilty in the case and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and in default of payment of the fine, they shall undergo further simple imprisonment for two months for commission of offense punishable under sections 409, 477A read with section 34 of IPC and section 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
However, during the long course of trial and investigation, three of five accused persons died due to old-age ailments.
