Five officials suspended over irregularities in Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway land compensation in Arunachal

The Arunachal Pradesh government has suspended four senior district officials and recommended the suspension of the East Kameng Deputy Commissioner after a Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) uncovered large-scale irregularities in the land compensation process for the Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway project under East Kameng district.

According to a press release issued by the Department of Land Management on Tuesday, the land acquisition process for the 125.55 km stretch of the highway was initiated under the RFCTLARR Act, 2013, with a Ground Verification Board headed by Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Nigam, IAS. The board also included officials from the Forest, Agriculture, and Land Revenue departments.

The statement said that after the award for compensation was approved in April 2025, numerous complaints were received from landowners alleging non-conduct of ground surveys, disparities in compensation amounts, and favouritism during the disbursement process. Complainants claimed that several genuine landowners were left out, while “non-existent assets” were compensated with inflated amounts.

Following the complaints, the state government constituted a Fact-Finding Committee on August 13, 2025, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner (Transport), with members from PWD, Forest, Horticulture, Fisheries, and Land Management departments.

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The FFC’s interim report, submitted on November 4, 2025, confirmed serious irregularities, including fraudulent and wrongful assessments, and the inclusion of non-existent properties for compensation. The report also pointed out “gross errors and deliberate commissions and omissions” by the district team responsible for the field survey.

In view of the findings, the state government ordered the immediate suspension of:

Abhinav Kumar, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Seppa
Miram Perme, District Agriculture Officer, Seppa
C.K. Tayum, District Horticulture Officer
Takam Kechak, District Land Revenue & Settlement Officer

Additionally, the government has recommended to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) the suspension of Himanshu Nigam, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of East Kameng district, who chaired the verification board.

The press release, signed by A.K. Singh, IAS, Secretary of the Department of Land Management, confirmed that the FFC has been granted time till November 30, 2025, to submit its final report.
The government assured that strict action would follow based on the final findings, reiterating its commitment to transparency and accountability in public projects.