ITANAGAR, AUG 28:

Arunachal Pradesh Police has arrested three persons for allegedly attempting to cheat a contractor of Rs 2.40 crore by promising to facilitate the release of a pending government bill of more than Rs 17 crore under a PMGSY road project, police said on Thursday.

A case was registered at Naharlagun police station under the BNS, and the accused have been identified as Toluk Lombi, Dubi Ete and Rajesh Kumar Singh, Naharlagun SP Nyelam Nega said.

According to the SP, the matter came to light after a contractor lodged a complaint alleging that the accused sought Rs 2.40 crore, claiming they could get his long-pending payment released.

The accused allegedly told the contractor that Singh had high-level connections with the central government and could use his influence to facilitate clearance of the outstanding bill.

The contractor was later allegedly handed a letter claiming that the pending payment had been cleared. However, when he approached the office of the chief engineer of the Rural Works Department (RWD), he was informed that the letter was not genuine, police said.

As the investigation progressed, Singh moved the court seeking cancellation of the FIR. The court, however, rejected the plea on August 13, paving the way for further investigation into the allegations.

A police team subsequently went to Guwahati and arrested Singh on August 25. He was later remanded to six days of police custody, Nega said.

Police are now investigating the case to determine the complete sequence of events and establish the specific role played by each of the three accused.

The SP also cautioned contractors and members of the public against falling for claims by individuals who promise to use government connections to get official work or payments cleared in return for money.

“If such people approach you, try to verify facts with the department concerned. After all, at the end of the day, it is about the hard-earned money,” Nega said. (Source: PTI)