Shooting The Messenger

TEHELKA’s exposé on the rampant corruption in the Assam Rifles (Commission Officers by Shyju Marathumpilly, 4 October), the oldest paramilitary force in the country, led to a massive outrage not just in the Northeast, where it spearheads counterinsurgency operations, but across the country. Several officers and men of the paramilitary force, also known as the “sentinels of the east”, were caught on camera accepting bribes. The sting operation codenamed Operation Hilltop was carried out with the help of a contractor with the Assam Rifles.

Though the Assam Rifles ordered an internal probe following the exposé, the attitude of the force since then raises doubts over the seriousness of its intent to curb the corrupt practices that seem to have eaten into its vitals.

On 24 October, a letter was dispatched to TEHELKA from the office of the director general of the Assam Rifles at Shillong in Meghalaya. In the letter, it is alleged that TEHELKA did the story based on the version of a contractor, CC Mathew, who had already been “blacklisted” by the paramilitary force. The magazine has also been accused of deliberately trying to malign the reputation of the force and its senior officers in order to sell a sensational story line. The Assam Rifles has also asked TEHELKA to publish an unconditional apology and remove the exposé from all digital platforms.

However, not even once have the authorities in the paramilitary force denied that the officers and men posted at the Shillong headquarters were accepting bribes. Instead, they have chosen to be ambivalent on the prevalence of large-scale corruption in their midst and are now trying to train their guns on TEHELKA.

By hurling baseless allegations at TEHELKA, the Assam Rifles seems to be trying to bury the sordid truth. Perhaps, the authorities of the paramilitary force hope that by putting pressure on the magazine, they can save the skins of those who were caught on camera. But the attempt is bound to fail as people across the country have already seen the footage that shows officers and men of the force accepting bribes.

TEHELKA has always maintained that the sting operation was carried out with the intention of bringing to the public domain the deeprooted corruption in the Assam Rifles. The contractor, Mathew, was the whistleblower who helped TEHELKA to expose the corrupt practices. Even if he was “blacklisted”, as the Assam Rifles claims, that does not in any way detract from the fact that officers and men of the paramilitary force were caught on camera accepting bribes. It seems that by raising this irrelevant issue, the Assam Rifles is only trying to divert attention from the crux of the matter.

“The exposé brought the sordid truth to light and that is why senior officers in the force are worried,” says an Assam Rifles officer posted in southern Assam, who does not wish to be identified. “I have been working with the paramilitary force for the past 20 years and have seen first-hand how corruption has increasingly become commonplace. The sting by TEHELKA exposed corruption at the headquarters, but it affects the force at every level. There is massive corruption at the sector level and even at the battalion level. Of course, there are many honest officers, but most of them have been sidelined. We have to keep quiet for the sake of our job.”

Adhering to best traditions of journalism, TEHELKA has expressed its willingness to fully cooperate in any probe into corruption in the Assam Rifles. It has offered to provide all the evidence that is in its possession to the investigation authorities.

“The need of the hour is an independent probe and not an internal inquiry. It is disheartening to see how Assam Rifles has been backing the corrupt officers and men even after they were caught on camera,” says Suhas Chakma, director of the New Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights. “Now that they are asking TEHELKA to apologise, it seems even more likely that the internal inquiry is just hogwash.” Is this what is expected of the oldest paramilitary force of the nation?

TEHELKA BUREAU

(Published in Tehelka Magazine, Volume 11 Issue 45, Dated 8 November 2014)

INSTITUTIONALIZED CORRUPTION: Tehelka Sting Op exposes rot in Assam Rifles

Guwahati: With corruption creeping into every system across the country, India's oldest paramilitary force Assam Rifles (AR) too is embroiled in a major corruption worth crores of rupees in their tender deals. Mathrubhumi News, in a sting operation conducted by Tehelka Group, has exposed the widespread corruption in Assam Rifles, where high level officers are seen accepting bribes. Visuals of the bribe being exchanged by officials have been telecast by the channel.

The malaise of corruption, which runs deep in our society, has spread to matters concerning national security. This should be a rude wake-up call for the Central government, the armed forces and the public alike. Corruption is eating into the vitals of the Assam Rifles, a force spearheading counter-insurgency operations in India’s Northeast. And as it assumes alarming proportions, Assam Rifles is turning out be a bad advertisement for India’s paramilitary forces.

A new sting by Tehelka has exposed the rampant corruption in India’s oldest Paramilitary force- Assam Rifles. Tehelka through an ex-Jawan who is a contractor registered with the Assam Rifles had helped the SIT in exposing the well oiled mechanism of corruption that exists in the Assam Rifles.

In the past, there were certain allegations made against India’s oldest paramilitary force with regard to the use (and misuse) of the discretionary funds. However, Tehelka reveals a clear and present danger in the organised manner in which some Assam Rifles personnel are taking cuts from contractors for the smooth passage of tenders, thereby tarnishing the organisation as a whole. The bribes are openly taken by the men in uniform sitting inside their respective offices.

Assam Rifles was started 179 years back and described as custodians of law. The Assam Rifles had many names before it took the present role in 1917. The main role is to maintain law and order and guard the Indo-Myanmar border. The main problem lies in the fighting between many tribes in and around Assam. It has 46 battalions under its command.

The Defence ministry had allotted Rs. 3000 crore towards Assam Rifles in the current financial. Tehelka showed the visuals on its TV. The substance of the story in its entirety is that any construction work that is awarded to the contractor, Assam Rifles’ administrative office gets 30% commission starting from lower rung to top rung.

Construction projects envisioned under the annual budget are implemented through tenders. Officials at every level make sure that they get their share of money every time a proposal moves from one table to another. The contractors who pay bribe reveal that for any project, 30 percent of its cost goes straight into the officials’ pockets. This adversely affects the quality of the construction activity. Such is the extent of the rot in the Assam Rifles that officials openly accept money in their offices.

The modus operandi is simple. A contractor, who floats a tender for any construction activity in the area administered by the Assam Rifles, is supposed to go through a particular network to disburse cash at every level. The booty is shared by lower-level clerks as well as the director-general, who is of lieutenant-general rank. The high-ranking officials do not take cash directly; their subordinates do it on their behalf.

A senior contractor who has been in this business for the past seven years rues the day he decided to take up this profession. His grouse is quite valid. If a tender is worth Rs. 1 crore, then 30 percent of it (Rs 30 lakh) needs to be spent on ensuring that there are no bottlenecks in the smooth execution of the project. In other words, that 30 percent disappears without even the project getting started.

A contractor explaining the modus operandi says that even before the tender is allotted, around 12% goes off from the amount fixed. Rest of the money is paid in various stages of construction. The officers in rank of subedar and so on are openly shown taking money in the office and counting it. All of them are in their uniform.

The top officers in the rank of Lt. General to DG do not take the money directly but tell the contractor to give it to the subordinate. The subordinate too has to be given a bribe. The percentage varies from 1% which is for the official who opens the tender and approves it as it goes down, it is around 0.5% of the sanctioned amount.

The contractor who went to pay the commission was told to pay the bribes of the earlier works and even collected the share for a General who has since been transferred. The officer called the General and told him the good news. A person who is on leave told the contractor to bring the money to his house in Guwahati.

The Tehelka team posed as a person wanting to get a licence to be a contractor. He was told to pay Rs. 60,000. During A K Antony’s tenure too, Assam Rifles was involved in corruption charges and an inquiry was ordered but the matter did not result in punishing the guilty.

The sting operation has brought Tehelka back into focus. Its expose of arms deal during Vajpayee ministry led to then defense minister George Feranandes and BJP National president quitting. 

 

By: daily.bhaskar.com

Tehelka Exposé: Operation Hilltop

The Rot In The Assam Rifles

An insurgency or a low-intensity war is not new to the Seven Sister states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura - in northeastern India. The people in these states have suffered it for a long time now. However, TEHELKA brings to you a different story from the hill states. This is a story about a war that needs to be fought from within.

The malaise of corruption, which runs deep in our society, has spread to matters concerning national security. This should be a rude wake-up call for the Central government, the armed forces and the public alike. Corruption is eating into the vitals of the Assam Rifles, a force spearheading counter-insurgency operations in India’s Northeast. And as it assumes alarming proportions, Assam Rifles is turning out be a bad advertisement for India’s paramilitary forces.

In the past, there were certain allegations made against India’s oldest paramilitary force with regard to the use (and misuse) of the discretionary funds. However, Tehelka reveals a clear and present danger in the organised manner in which some Assam Rifles personnel are taking cuts from contractors for the smooth passage of tenders, thereby tarnishing the organisation as a whole. The bribes are openly taken by the men in uniform sitting inside their respective offices.

TEHELKA penetrated the Assam Rifles and the unseemly activities we uncovered would make you cringe with shame. On the one hand, we see innocent jawans dying for the nation. On the other hand, there are uniformed officials taking a bribe. It poses a serious threat to national security and could affect the morale of the jawans.

Many officials in the Assam Rifles are appointed on deputation from the Indian Army. TEHELKA’s investigation finds that most of them, after their stint at the Assam Rifles, return to their home unit with a huge amount of illicit wealth. Shockingly, the corruption is institutionalised; it happens in an organised manner and the well-planned racket includes clerks and high-ranking officials alike.

Tough battle While the soldiers of the Assam Rifles are fighting rebels, some officers are busy minting money

How It Is Done 
Every financial year, the Central government makes budgetary allocations for the security forces. In this year’s budget (2014-15), the Assam Rifles has been allocated Rs 3,580 crore. (The corresponding budgetary allocation for the Assam Rifles for 2013-14 was Rs 3,358 crore and Rs 2,966 crore for 2012-13.)

Construction projects envisioned under the annual budget are implemented through tenders. Officials at every level make sure that they get their share of money every time a proposal moves from one table to another. The contractors who pay bribe reveal that for any project, 30 percent of its cost goes straight into the officials’ pockets. This adversely affects the quality of the construction activity. Such is the extent of the rot in the Assam Rifles that officials openly accept money in their offices.

The modus operandi is simple. A contractor, who floats a tender for any construction activity in the area administered by the Assam Rifles, is supposed to go through a particular network to disburse cash at every level. The booty is shared by lower-level clerks as well as the director-general, who is of lieutenant-general rank. The high-ranking officials do not take cash directly; their subordinates do it on their behalf.

A senior contractor who has been in this business for the past seven years rues the day he decided to take up this profession. His grouse is quite valid. If a tender is worth Rs 1 crore, then 30 percent of it (Rs 30 lakh) needs to be spent on ensuring that there are no bottlenecks in the smooth execution of the project. In other words, that 30 percent disappears without even the project getting started.

“Thirty percent of a proposed tender has to be given to various officers in the Assam Rifles. Sometimes it can go up to 35 percent. We have to manage with the money left for arranging for raw materials, labourers and, of course, the profit,” says the senior contractor. Consequently, quality suffers.

“First you float a tender and in order to get that passed, it has to go to Shillong (Meghalaya). There you have to pay 5-8 percent. If you don’t pay, then the tender will not move an inch from there. Your project will be over before it can be launched. The bottom line is that this 30 percent has to be given at any cost,” the senior contractor explains.

“The total expense is 30 percent, but the bribe money is not paid in one go; it moves in a phased manner, first at the tendering stage, then at the billing phase and so on. A major share of it is cornered by SO1 (Special Officer 1), where a tender originates.”

The Contractors 
In all, there are 543 contractors registered with the Assam Rifles. Basically, there are five types of contractors. They are categorised as: Special, A,B, C and D classes. The classification is done on the basis of money involved. Those in the Special class can take up projects involving unlimited sums of money. The contractors in the A and B categories are eligible for projects worth Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively. Those in the remaining two categories (C and D) are into projects with even less money. New contractors automatically fall in the D category; according to their performance, they are promoted to the higher categories.

How The Booty Is Shared 
The procedure for sharing the ill-gotten money is very systematic. Five percent goes to the sector where the work is allotted. In some cases, it could go up to 10 percent. Another 5 percent goes to the DGR (Director General Resettlement). Then the unit where the bill goes to, comes into the picture; it gets another 5 percent. When the bill returns to the sector, 3 percent has to be given to the officials and another 5 percent to the DGR. And, finally, there is a 7 percent VAT(value added tax), which brings the total to 30 percent. This is how the gravy train runs. Apart from this, 1 percent has to be given to the accounts department, from where payments are released.

Operation HilltopTehelka followed a contractor as he paid money to the officials of the Assam Rifles. Last year, the contractor erected a pre-fabricated shelter at the Tamanglong district headquarters in Manipur at a cost of Rs 24 lakh, for which he had already paid 16 percent of the project cost as bribe to various officials to acquire the tender. Now, he gives another 18 percent of the cost as bribe to officials to get the bill passed. This time, TEHELKA followed him and for the first time in the history of India, officials in combat uniform are caught red handed — on camera — accepting money! It included a colonel and two lieutenant colonels. Shockingly, the chief of the Assam Rifles also took his share in the deal, indirectly through his subordinates. Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) H Deb received the money on behalf of his superiors, including the DG, ADG and the Chief Engineer.

http://www.tehelka.com/tehelka-expose-sting-operation-hilltop-assam-rifles-bribery-corruption/#.VH2SOzGUc0Q