Death – Obituary – Accident and Crime News : One additional APS officer has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the alleged Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cash-for-job scam, bringing the total count of arrests to three. The officer, identified as Rakesh Das, was apprehended in Beltola, Guwahati. He is originally from the Nalbari district in lower Assam.
The arrests stem from an investigation initiated on November 22 by the SIT, which was formed by DGP GP Singh to probe the involvement of 34 ACS and APS officers recruited in 2013 and 2014. Prior to Das’ arrest, two APS officers, Sahjahan Sarkar and Aishwarya Jiban Baruah, had already been taken into custody.
During the ongoing investigation, several irregularities have come to light, including a mismatch of handwriting with the answer script. It has also been revealed that the father of the accused had close ties to the former APSC chairperson, Rakesh Paul. The SIT has interrogated several other officers, and more arrests are expected in the near future.
Rakesh Paul, along with 58 officers, was arrested by the investigating officer during the course of the probe. All of them have been discharged from their services and are currently out on bail. However, the investigating officer has not taken any action against the 34 officers whose names were found in a nine-page tabulation sheet recovered during the investigation.
The Gauhati High Court has questioned the state government about why the officers whose names appear in the tabulation sheet have not been included in the investigation. This query came during the court’s hearing of a batch of petitions related to the case.
The APSC cash-for-job scam has raised serious concerns about corruption and nepotism in the recruitment process. The arrest of additional officers indicates that the SIT is determined to uncover the full extent of the scandal and bring all those involved to justice. The investigation is ongoing, and further developments are expected in the coming days.