On November 14, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) hauled in Tonia Langkam, a missing accused from Itanagar, for a big fraud that tried to game India’s horticulture subsidy program.
Langkam was caught on Thursday in Guwahati after years of staying in the shadows since the charges were first filed in 2009. He was brought before a special CBI court in the city the same day, and the judge ordered him to be kept in judicial custody.
The case stems from the National Horticulture Board’s (NHB) “Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post‑Harvest Management” scheme. This program gives farmers credit and subsidies to help grow fruit, flower and vegetable crops and to build things like greenhouses and cold storage.
According to the CBI, Langkam and his group submitted fake proposals in the names of farmers from Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley and East Siang districts in Arunachal Pradesh. By the time the scheme’s officials approved 173 applications, the money was set to be awarded. Investigators traced the forged documents back to a house in Guwahati owned by another accused, Tarik Tolam, where locals helped put together the scams under Langkam’s direction.
The investigation began with a filing on April 30, 2007, and the formal chargesheet was dropped on December 21, 2009. The scheme is meant to boost integrated horticulture—from planting and irrigation to post‑harvest processing—so any fraud hurts not just the state coffers but farmers who rely on those subsidies.
CBI’s latest arrest shows the agency is tightening its grip on scheme abuse. The move is part of a broader push to protect government credit and ensure horticulturists in the northeast receive the support they need – not the scammers.
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