Agartala, July 6: While the National Socialist Party of Tripura (NSPT) leadership is waiting for the resignation of the party leader Hirendra Kumar Tripura by Thursday, the state government has ordered a CID investigation into charges of corruption against him. Tripura, the chief executive member of the Autonomous District Council (ADC), is currently outside the state for treatment. An official press release issued by the state government last night stated that the state government has received allegations of illegal collection of money by Tripura from unemployed youths. The government has decided to entrust the responsibility of the investigation to the CID.
Sources said North East Plantation and Industries Corporation (NEPICO) had been set up a few years back with branches in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura to invest in readymade garments, coffee and tea plantations and high-yielding bamboo, horticultural crops and dairy.
The Tripura branch, of which Hirendra Kumar Tripura is the chairman, decided to invest in bamboo plantations. In 2002, he collected Rs 5,000-40,000 each from 4,000 unemployed youths, mostly tribals, as ?refundable security deposit?, promising to give them jobs. But none of the youths got jobs or their money back.
The youths launched an agitation in April this year in front of his official residence here. A number of FIRs were filed against him in different parts of the state. Tripura?s involvement in the controversy was also raised in the Assembly.