26 officers take handwriting test
THE ARREST OF AN ASSISTANT ENGINEER, CAUGHT ACCEPTING BRIBE, OPENED A CAN OF WORMS IN THE ASSAM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
Twenty-six officers, whose appointment is under the scanner after the cash-for-jobs scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) was exposed, underwent a handwriting test at the state police’s special branch office here on Friday.
The officers — 13 from Assam Civil Service (ACS), seven from Assam Police Service (APS) and the rest from allied services — include the son of former Congress minister Nilamoni Sen Deka and relatives of Union minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain and former RS member Nazneed Farooqui. They had secured plum jobs soon after cracking the APSC-conducted civil services exam in 2015.
“Apart from being interrogated, the 26 officers were asked to append their signatures and write a short note on a blank sheet. Forensic laboratories outside the state will compare the papers with the handwritings in their exam answer scripts,” state director-general of police Mukesh Sahay said.
Some 250 candidates were selected for the state’s civil, police and allied services in 2015. But the arrest of an assistant engineer, caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹10 lakh from a lady dentist last year, opened a can of worms in the APSC.
APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul and eight others were arrested. A raid at Paul’s residence and APSC office in Guwahati yielded two sets of answer scripts of three ACS officers. The trio was arrested as their selection was found to be based on duplicate assessment.
Police later seized more than 1,000 copies of answer scripts from the APSC office for examination and summoned the 26 officers. Preliminary probe revealed Paul used to conduct the exams of candidates who offered him cash — up to ₹40 lakh — for jobs at his chosen place and time. This was in addition to their appearance at the designated exam centres. Paul would later swap scripts.
The founder of Bhim Army and main accused in the Saharanpur violence, Chandrashekhar, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Thursday.
Police produced Chandrashekhar before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM-II) at 10.30pm on Thursday, which sent him to judicial custody, said Dinesh, PRO at the SSP office in Saharanpur.
Earlier, police had informed mediapersons that Chandrashekhar would be produced before the court on Friday.
However, the cops changed their strategy as there was a possibility of protests and violence during day time.
Chandrashekhar was arrested from Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.
He was wanted by police in connection with widespread violence that occurred in Saharanpur between May 9 and 23.
The Saharanpur administration also banned internet services for two days to foil any attempt to mobilise Bhim Army supporters through social media.
The administration had earlier banned internet services for nine days, which were restored on June 3.