Exclusive: Blank Papers, Multiple Credits - Manipur's Multi-Crore Mystery
People affected by three ongoing highway widening projects in Manipur's Kangpokpi district have alleged an insurgent group forced them to sign on blank papers to take a cut from their compensation money.
Many have complained of receiving less than 50 per cent of what they were supposed to get.
They have filed a complaint with the deputy commissioner (DC), Mahesh Chaudhari, for a correction as the DC is the competent authority to whom the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) released Rs 320.52 crore in three tranches as compensation under Section 3G of the National Highways Act, 1956.
This provision deals with determining the amount payable as compensation for rehabilitation and resettlement following land acquisition in highway projects.
Mr Chaudhari told NDTV he has received the complaint, and declined to give further details. "We are working on it as per the rules," he said.
Under the provisions of the National Highways Act, Mr Chaudhari is the 'competent authority (land acquisition)', or CALA, for disbursing the compensation amount sent by the NHIDCL.
Hundreds of pages of documents including bank statements, court papers and written complaints accessed by NDTV and analysed for over a month indicate the beneficiaries' allegations may merit an investigation into possible diversion of government money towards terror funding by insurgent groups.
Multiple credits into the accounts of just eight people in Kangpokpi - allegedly the middlemen of the insurgent group - from the compensation fund amount to Rs 18 crore. This number may rise later as more names come out. To put this into perspective, that is enough to buy several guns and other lethal weapons from the black market, according to land conflict analysts.
Central Funds For Beneficiaries
The three projects to widen the highway from two to four lanes are on the Imphal-Kohima section of National Highway (NH) 2. This highway goes all the way from Dibrugarh in Assam to Tuipang in Mizoram, via Mokokchung, Wokha and Kohima in Nagaland, and Imphal and Churachandpur in Manipur.
The NHIDCL named the projects Package 4A, 4B, and 5A with a combined length of 35.53 km, according to the tender details available with the government company under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
To compensate villagers who would lose their lands or structures or both, the NHIDCL sent Rs 320.52 crore to the CALA's three separate accounts with Indian Bank in three tranches.
Documents accessed by NDTV show that for Package 4A, which is the 12.44-km stretch from Taphou Kuki to Daili, the NHIDCL sent Rs 140.42 crore to the CALA's account.
In another tranche for Package 4B, which is the 12.39-km section from Daili to Kuraopokpi, the NHIDCL credited Rs 102.90 crore to the CALA's account.
And for Package 5A, which is the 10.70-km section of Kuraopokpi to Sekmai, the NHIDCL sent Rs 77.20 crore to the CALA's account.
The utilisation certificates for all the three packages (4A, 4B, and 5A) signed by Mr Chaudhari show that the CALA paid the compensation amount to the beneficiaries between March 3, 2023 and April 30, 2024.
A utilisation certificate is a government document that confirms money has been used for the purpose for which it was sanctioned.
Forced To Sign On Blank Papers: Villagers
At least 20 villagers whom NDTV spoke with alleged they received a much less compensation amount after the insurgent group Kuki National Front (KNF) forced them to sign on blank papers, and in some cases pre-filled forms.
All of them requested anonymity as their lives could be in threat.
KNF finance secretary Jangboi Kipgen instructed village chiefs to bring everyone eligible for compensation to the office of the local council, the villagers alleged. The chiefs did as told by the KNF, they said. There, in a room guarded by armed KNF men, Jangboi Kipgen's associates told the villagers to sign on blank papers if they wanted to get compensation from the road-widening project, the beneficiaries told NDTV. They were not allowed to bring their mobile phones to the room.
The KNF informed them it would take a 5 per cent cut from every individual's compensation amount, they alleged.
"Understanding the realities, I thought it was fine. Losing 5 per cent is better than not getting any or worse... I was to get Rs 17 lakh, but got only Rs 3.8 lakh. The authorities did not give proper answers when we complained to the DC that we have not got the right amount," one of the beneficiaries told NDTV, explaining the final amount that had been trimmed was a lot more than 5 per cent.
He showed his account statement and the credit entry of Rs 3.8 lakh, which appeared with the description "bulk posting - by salary". His name also does not appear in the statements of all the three official CALA bank accounts that disbursed the compensation amount. So, who sent him the much lower amount from what appeared to be outside the formal system linked to the CALA accounts, he said he doesn't know.
"We haven't got the amount that we should get as per the highway law. They have taken advantage of the ignorance of villagers... KNF men stood outside the council office while inside there was one KNF man, who told us to sign the blank paper. They did not tell us anything else, only that the money would come," the beneficiary said.
Seventy-eight beneficiaries signed a complaint letter and gave it to the Kangpokpi DC on January 25, 2025, informing him that they would not allow any work on the highway to be carried out unless the "actual amount" of compensation is deposited into their bank accounts.
"We will really appreciate it if this could be between the actual owners [of land, structure or both] and the government. The amount paid to us is not acceptable compared to other places," they said in the letter which pointed at the involvement of middlemen. NDTV has a copy of the letter with names and numbers of the beneficiaries.
A retired person who got compensation for both land and structure said he was supposed to get Rs 1 crore, but received only Rs 69 lakh.
"They made me sign a pre-filled form at the council office. The KNF man did not let me read it," the retired person said.
Another beneficiary told NDTV he was made to sign two blank papers.
"They did not let me see the papers and also did not tell how much I will get. They said 'you will get the money' and asked me to leave. I got Rs 48 lakh, but Naga villagers with the same land and structures as mine got over Rs 80 lakh," he said, indicating the KNF did not touch the Naga villagers who were eligible for receiving compensation.
Some beneficiaries who are among the complainants to the DC said not only Naga villagers, but Meiteis also got the full compensation amount.
Multiple Credits
An analysis of the yearly statements of the three CALA bank accounts show that at least eight people received multiple credits in Package 4B and 5A, the total amounting to Rs 18 crore. This figure may rise later. They are suspected to be middlemen set up by the KNF finance secretary Jangboi Kipgen, the same person who told village chiefs to bring beneficiaries for signing on the blank papers.
Two others who received compensation running into several lakh of rupees, as seen in the CALA bank account statements, got the money despite owning no land or structure in the areas affected by the project, the beneficiaries who filed a complaint to the DC told NDTV.
The eight suspected middlemen are Uttam Thapa, Lunginmang Kipgen, Satminlal Kipgen, Milan Pradha, Kaplenlal, Lalkhogin, Phuthou, and Jangkhohao.
In Package 4B, Uttam Thapa has 32 credit transactions totalling Rs 1.34 crore. Some of the credits run into 13 transactions on a single day in March 2024 amounting to Rs 58 lakh.
Lunginmang Kipgen has 67 credit entries in Package 4B totalling Rs 33.50 lakh.
Satminlal Kipgen has 56 credit transactions in Package 4B totalling Rs 3.26 crore. There are multiple credit entries of up to six transactions on a single day in March 2024, totalling Rs 42 lakh a day.
Milan Pradha has 83 credit transactions in Package 4B totalling Rs 85.12 lakh.
In Package 5A, Uttam Thapa has 228 credit transactions totalling Rs 6.04 crore.
Lunginmang Kipgen has 363 credit entries totalling Rs 3.11 crore in Package 5A.
Both Satminlal Kipgen and Milan Pradha have one credit entry each in Package 5A of Rs 5.16 lakh and Rs 5.43 lakh, respectively.
In Package 4B, Kaplenlal has 19 credit transactions totalling Rs 88.31 lakh, Lalkhogin 82 credit transactions, Phuthou 158 credit transactions, and Jangkhohao 299 credit transactions.
The total of all these transactions so far excluding three of the eight people is Rs 18 crore. This number will increase once data for the three individuals - Lalkhogin, Phuthou, and Jangkhohao - are confirmed and reverified.
Most importantly, there could be other suspicious entries that only a proper forensic audit may be able to detect, a top banking source said.
The two others who received money, but allegedly do not own any land or structure in the affected area are Thangtinlen, and Lunthang Haokip, beneficiaries who raised a complaint to the DC have alleged. The two had protested against a survey team that came to Kangpokpi in 2021. They told the survey team they would not allow any work to start unless the issue of land ownership was sorted out first.
Thangtinlen has three credit transactions in March 2024 to his name in Package 4B totalling Rs 4 lakh. Lunthang Haokip received Rs 56.81 lakh in a single transaction in the same month.
Both projects are going on smoothly now, so is Package 4A (Taphou Kuki to Daili). While Package 4B (Daili to Kuraopokpi) is scheduled to be completed by June 2026, Package 5A (Kuraopokpi to Sekmai) is scheduled to be completed by August 2026; the likely date of completion of Package 4A is December 2025, according to the NHIDCL.
Inside KNF
While queries to the KNF went unanswered, a source who is very close to the KNF leadership told NDTV that Jangboi Kipgen acted independently.
"The cadres are not happy. The villagers are not happy. This is not what the KNF wants," the source said, requesting anonymity.
The KNF comes under the United People's Front (UPF), which represents eight armed groups [including KNF] for talks with the Centre for a Union Territory with an assembly for the Kuki tribes.
The UPF and another umbrella body of insurgent groups called the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) have signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government. Broadly, under the SoO agreement, the armed groups have to follow ground rules like staying in designated camps, not recruiting fresh insurgents, and keeping weapons in locked storage, jointly monitored.
The KNO represents 17 insurgent groups.
The UPF and the KNO leadership are the ones who visit Delhi from time to time for talks with the Centre - amid pressure from Meitei civil society groups to scrap the SoO agreement - to present their views on why they need separation from Manipur.
It is in this context that when the UPF leadership is trying hard to keep its house clean, personnel morale high, and the public happy, the KNF finance secretary Jangboi Kipgen's actions on the ground go in an opposite direction from what the UPF leadership has been presenting to the Centre, the source told NDTV, adding there is speculation the National Investigation Agency (NIA) may come knocking at Jangboi Kipgen's door.
"Taking large portions from the compensation money of villagers who lost houses and land is not something the UPF, being the parent body, would approve," the source said.
KNF In Detail
The KNF was founded in 1987. In 1994, it split into two factions i.e. KNF-MC led by SK Kipgen, and the original became KNF-P led by ST Thangboi Kipgen. The 'P' in KNF-P means "president"; it is used to indicate KNF-P is the original KNF, hence the letter "president", the supreme. So, KNF is essentially the KNF-P; the rest are its factions.
Like all other insurgent groups operating in Manipur, extortion has been the main source of income for the KNF despite the SoO agreement, sources said. Extortion is usually carried out on the highways - its personnel force vehicles carrying goods to pay for entry into areas under their control.
KNF's factions have a presence in Bangladesh, where they have tied up with a group called Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya to train the jihadist group's members, sources said. However, this seems unlikely because KNF's influence does not even reach Churachandpur in southern Manipur, which is 110 km away from KNF's home turf Kangpokpi, let alone Bangladesh. The Bangladesh-based groups like Kuki-Chin National Front, which also calls itself KNF, is not related in ethnic or linguistic lines with Manipur's KNF.
The KNF factions used to be involved in a high number of kidnappings till the late 2010s, sources said. After the Manipur violence began in May 2023, and the subsequent crackdowns by the Indian Army on drug trafficking and arms smuggling, many routes have shut down, sources said. While new routes through Mizoram have opened up, KNF's 'income' from drug smuggling has reduced, they said.
The KNF-P is currently the largest of the factions; it has approximately 100-odd insurgents.
Utilisation Certificates
The utilisation certificate for Package 4A mentioned the CALA received from the NHIDCL as compensation for rehabilitation and resettlement Rs 1,000 on October 23, 2020; Rs 20 lakh on October 29, 2020, and Rs 20 crore on December 28, 2020. However, no entries appear in the statement of the same account mentioned in the utilisation certificate from January 1 to December 31, 2020.
The document also mentioned the CALA received Rs 12.82 crore on July 13, 2021; Rs 88.62 crore on July 27, 2021; Rs 36.93 lakh on July 30, 2021, and Rs 1.43 crore on August 2, 2021. However, there is no transaction in the statement from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 of the same account mentioned in the utilisation certificate.
These could be administrative procedures that imply the dates are for issuing letters by the NHIDCL and not actual credits into the account.
"If You Treat Us Like Animals": Complex Land Laws, Disputes Complicate Matters
Following a government notification on December 29, 2022 seeking objections to land acquisition for the highway project in Kangpokpi, the Motbung Village Authority which represents the Kuki tribes launched a united campaign to highlight how revenue officers marked out lands for acquisition without clearly identifying the areas, which could lead to denial of full and fair compensation to the villagers.
Large tracts of land in Motbung village were included in Kanglatongbi and Kuraopokpi without any proper verification, demarcation and identification, the Motbung Village Authority said in a representation to the then Kangpokpi DC.
"That almost all the lands except for a meagre portion have been indicated as government land (dry), thereby causing great injustice to me and my villagers," the Motbung village chief Kaikhosei Lhouvum said in the letter to the DC.
Manipur still follows the hereditary chieftainship system of village administration, despite a state law passed in 1967 to abolish this traditional system, but never put into operation. Neighbouring Mizoram, a state of tribes, ended hereditary chieftainship way back in 1954.
In the letter, the Motbung village chief said he was not against land acquisition by the government, but against erroneous demarcation of land which would have a direct effect on compensation.
"If your authority is bent upon denying our rights and continues to treat us like animals, we will have no option but to approach the court of competent jurisdiction for justice. I am also to remind you that even animals are conferred with certain rights," Mr Lhouvum wrote.
He eventually approached the Manipur High Court. A bench of Justice A Guneshwar Sharma disposed of the case on February 17 this year after ordering Mr Lhouvum to go to the arbitrator appointed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and give a fresh representation.
The National Highways Act, 1956 allows land owners not satisfied with the amount of compensation they received to take their grievances to an arbitrator appointed by the central government. In this case, the Centre appointed the Manipur government secretary (fishery) on October 10, 2024.
Mr Lhouvum would have to start all over again with his representation to the arbitrator.
Land ownership in Manipur, which is critical for claiming compensation, is umbilically tied to the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (MLR and LR) Act, 1960. This law defines what is a 'hill area' and it is not applicable to those areas.
The Kuki tribes have, however, alleged successive state governments have been adding hill areas under this law one step at a time. This has led to tension on two counts - first, the authorities may not listen to the grievances of genuine land owners in hill areas that may have come under the MLR and LR Act, and second, encroachers in genuine areas under the MLR and LR Act can simply make a false claim that it is a hill area and demand immunity.
An analysis of the land ownership pattern and who got how much compensation in '31 Kanglatongbi village' under Package 5A showed that the names of land owners are based on what was recorded in 1960, when the MLR and LR Act was passed. NDTV checked 431 entries in the document.
In this village, while the ownership of some lands was mentioned as private, the type of land is now mentioned as "government".
Some lands whose owner was earlier mentioned as "government" are now mentioned as "private".
And some lands whose owners were mentioned as "private" still remained "private" - they are few, and are the only people who received 100 per cent solatium and compensation for both the value of land and the structures on it.
The rest got compensation only for the value of the structure - implying they could be encroachers as they did not own the land, or they could be people living on land belonging to village chiefs.
The beneficiary who said he received Rs 3.8 lakh - the inexplicable entry "bulk posting by salary" - instead of at least five times the amount he said he deserved to get, told NDTV that all objections to land acquisition fell silent over time after the KNF got involved.
"Everything is messed up. It is a massive tangle of words that sound nice on paper, but none of them make any sense. Go to the best lawyer, the best expert, they also cannot make sense of the lands and the laws and the claims. Why do you think we are suffering?" he said.
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