The Arunachal Pradesh government has suspended four senior district officials and recommended disciplinary action against East Kameng Deputy Commissioner (DC) Himanshu Nigam after an inquiry uncovered major irregularities in land compensation linked to the Frontier Highway project’s Lada–Sarli stretch.

An official statement released on Wednesday revealed that a fact-finding committee had detected widespread malpractice in the award process for the 125.55-km segment of the project. The probe found that compensation had been issued for non-existent properties, inflated valuations, and fabricated asset assessments, pointing to systemic corruption during land acquisition.

The four officials placed under suspension are Divisional Forest Officer Abhinav Kumar, District Agriculture Officer Miram Perme, District Horticulture Officer C. K. Tayum and District Land Revenue and Settlement Officer Takam Kechak.

The state government has also written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recommending the suspension of DC Himanshu Nigam, who chaired the Ground Verification Board that approved the contentious compensations.

Committee flags “serious omissions and commissions”

The fact-finding panel, headed by the Commissioner (Transport) and comprising officials from the PWD, Land Management, and Forest Departments, was constituted on August 13 following a series of complaints from affected landowners.

Its interim report, submitted on November 4, confirmed “serious omissions and commissions” by the verification team and cited evidence of large-scale fraudulent practices. The panel has been granted time until November 30 to submit its final report.

Public outrage and civil society backlash

Local residents and civil society groups have accused officials of manipulating the compensation process, excluding genuine landowners, and diverting funds to fictitious beneficiaries. The revelations have triggered public outrage, with citizens calling for a transparent investigation and recovery of misused government funds.
“Local residents and civil society groups have alleged that genuine landowners were deliberately excluded while compensation was funneled to fictitious beneficiaries. The revelations have sparked public outrage,” said a government official.

In an order signed by A. K. Singh, Secretary of the Land Management Department, the state government stated that the suspensions were issued due to the “gravity of the findings” and will remain in force pending a comprehensive investigation.

“Strict action will be taken once the final report is submitted,” the order added.

Strategic highway project faces fresh scrutiny

The Frontier Highway, part of India’s strategic border infrastructure initiative, has long faced challenges related to land acquisition disputes and compensation anomalies. The project—critical to improving connectivity along the sensitive Indo-China border—has now come under renewed scrutiny following the latest revelations.

Officials said the government remains committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in the project’s implementation and pledged stringent disciplinary measures against those found guilty once the probe concludes later this month.

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