Assam: 13 civil, police officers held in job-for-money scam; 14 more arrests likely

Guwahati: In a major shock to the state, Assam police on Wednesday arrested at least 13 serving Assam Civil and Police Services officers in connection with the job-for-cash scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), which took place during the previous Congress regime in the state.

The 13 officers who belonged to the 2013 batch were picked up from different districts on Wednesday. Police sources said that 14 more officers are likely to be arrested in the next few days.

The arrests came after the investigating team headed by S S Panesar, Additional SP, Dibrugarh, got forensic reports confirming the allegations against 25 officers who were put through a handwriting test in June this year.

Those arrested till now include seven Assam Civil Service (ACS) officers and four of the Assam Police Service (APS).

The arrested officers are: Pallabika Sarma Choudhury, Dipankar Khanikar, Himangshu Choudhury, Aniruddha Roy, Debajit Bora, Amarjit Das and Sudipta Goswami Bharadwaj (all Assam Civil Service), Sabira Imran, Jayanta Kumar Das, Hemanta Hillol Sakia, Harsha Jyoti Bora (all Assam Police Service).

Known as job-for-cash scam in the APSC, it took place during the tenure of previous Congress government of Tarun Gogoi.

Rakesh Kumar Paul, a small-time lawyer who later served as a notary, and appointed by the Congress government as APSC member in 2008 and as chairman in 2013, was earlier arrested in November 2016 in connection with the scam.

The BJP-led alliance, which came to power with the promise of protecting jaati-maati-bheti (nation-land-home) in May 2016, had also promised to free Assam from corruption, infiltration, and pollution.

Sonowal has already announced a zero-tolerance policy of his government against corruption.

The arrests come a day after Ranjit Gogoi, the director of the state government’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations, was arrested in connection with a scam involving around Rs 32 crore.