Tura, May 29: Senior Meghalaya Civil Service Officer and current Tura Municipal Board CEO, Rikse R Marak, who was earlier the Secretary of the GHADC has been issued a warrant of arrest with bail by the Meghalaya Lokayukta court for failing to attend a hearing pertaining to a case filed on alleged misappropriation of funds in the council.

The state Lokayukta Chairperson Bhalang Dhar issued an order on May 25th directing that the two respondents, namely former GHADC Secretary Rikse R Marak and former Principal Secretary of GHADC Hewingson A Sangma, be issued a warrant of arrest with bail as they remained absent from facing the court hearing summons given to them and several other accused in the case.

Bail has been set at Rs 20,000 for the two of them which they will require to seek from the Superintendent of Police of West Garo Hills.

The Lokayukta has set May 29 (Sunday) at 2 PM for a hearing of the case.

The case was filed by six petitioners led by former GHADC employee Flamingbirth B Marak.

The petitioners have named close to two dozen individuals, besides Smt Rikse Marak and Hewingson Sangma,  and includes former CEMs Dipul R Marak and Benedic R Marak, MDCs, district council officers and contractors.

The case pertains to the central funding of a little over Rs 100 Crore given by the central government to the GHADC for development of the constituencies of 30 MDCs.

The allegation is that many projects never took off. Others abandoned after initial start of work, whereas the entire amount for the projects have allegedly been already withdrawn by the MDCs tacit understanding with officials.

The case was probed by retired IPS officer F D Sangma on the directions of the Lokayukta and the report on the alleged misappropriation was submitted after a long and painstaking investigation that included field visits to the project sites deep in the interiors of Garo Hills.