GUWAHATI: He is the prime accused in one of the biggest scams the state has ever seen, but is the poorest candidate in fray for the assembly elections. He neither has cash in hand nor does he own any land or home. His only luxury is a modest Maruti 800 owned by his schoolteacher wife.
Unbelievable? At least this is what his affidavit submitted to the EC says.
Meet Mohet Hojai, the former chief executive member of NC Hills Autonomous Council, who is contesting polls from prison as an Autonomous Demand State Committee (ASDC) candidate. He is fighting elections from the lone Haflong seat in Dima Hasao district. Named accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the multi-crore funds scam in the North Cachar Hills Autuonomous Council (NCHAC), Hojai was arrested in 2009. The NIA registered two cases relating to diversion of government funds meant for development of NCHAC to DHD (J) in 2009. He is the alleged conduit for the funds diversion from the treasury to militants' coffers. The charges, however, haven't yet been framed in any court.
Hojai's affidavit, in contrast, gives a completely different picture. He is probably the only candidate who has declared that he has no cash in hand and it is his wife who has Rs 40,000 in hand. He has two bank accounts with the SBI at Haflong and Dispur and has Rs 12,557 and Rs 27,607 deposited in these two branches respectively. His wife has an account with SBI, Haflong, where there is only Rs 3,656.
According to the affidavit, Hojai has no investments in bonds, shares or mutual funds. However, he and his wife have two LIC policies of Rs 1 lakh each. Besides, his wife also has gold ornaments of about 10 gms.
Neither he nor his wife own any agricultural land, individually or jointly. The family also does not have any non-commercial land to build a house. The graduate from Lumding College also does not owe anybody and also don't fall under the tax bracket.
According to the NIA chargesheet, Hojai present address at his time of arrest was at an apartment in the city. Contrary to the chargesheet which says he is a "member of DHD (J)", Hojai affidavit shows he is a "social worker".
The NIA chargesheet says, "Hojai and the other accused public servants and contractors committed criminal misconduct and defalcated huge amount of money from the funds available with NCHAC."
Social Plugin