Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a prosecution complaint against eight persons for allegedly siphoning off more than Rs 7 crore meant for compensatory afforestation and development of national highway in Dima Hasao district.

The eight include former chief executive member of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council Debolal Hojai and controversial businessman Ranbir Singh Gandhi.

An official source said the prosecution complaint, equivalent to a chargesheet in police parlance, was filed at the designated PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court here. Others named in the complaint were Gandhi's son Chiranjit, Debiruz Jaman, Jayanta Kumar Ghosh, Debasish Bhattacharjee, Debabrata Seal and Rita Chanda. They were charged under different sections of the act.

According to the source, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had released around Rs 9.48 crore between 2006 and 2010 and a lion's share of that money was allegedly misappropriated.

"The ED investigation revealed that around Rs 5.49 crore was allegedly siphoned off by Gandhi and his son in connivance with the then chief executive member Hojai and Jaman, a senior forest official," he said.

The money was released by the NHAI for compensatory afforestation in the Dima Hasao forests affected by four-laning of National Highway 54 in 2008. "Another Rs 1.91 crore was allegedly paid to contractor Jayanta Kumar Ghosh and other accused on the basis of fake documents without executing any work," the source said.

He said the payment was shown to be made to four firms, which only exist on paper. The source said Debolal had allegedly received "several benefits" from Ghosh, including a Ford Endeavour costing nearly Rs 22 lakh in May-July 2008, a pistol (Rs 15 lakh), a Goa-Mumbai trip and another trip to Kashmir in 2008, a necklace and some other items for his wife and around Rs 50 lakh in cash for PWD work in 2008.