GUWAHATI: The Assam police sniffed a connection between a low-intensity blast that occurred in Tinsukia district on Wednesday night and the ongoing police actions in the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).
Director General of Police GP Singh said it is a strange coincidence that the day the government and the police started taking “revitalised action” in the APSC scam, the miscreants triggered the blast.
“This looks like an attempt to draw attention of senior leadership of police away from APSC scam investigation. Such miscreants and organisations would always try to stifle efforts to improve Assam,” Singh wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He said the perpetrators would be identified and punished.
“We remain committed to reaching the bottom of the scam and punish all who are involved in it,” he added.
A grenade had exploded outside the gates of an Army camp at Dirak in Tinsukia. However, there was no casualty in the incident. The police said two motorcycle-borne persons had lobbed the grenade before making good their escape.
The incident occurred hours after two police officers were arrested for their alleged involvement in the cash-for-job scam which pertains to a combined competitive examination conducted by the APSC in 2013. The duo is among 34 high-ranking officers named as suspects in the final report of a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
According to reports, the SIT is looking for some of the suspects but they have gone underground.
The multi-crore rupees cash-for-job scam was exposed in 2016 by a doctor, Angshumita Gogoi.
The police in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh town had arrested an assistant engineer after he was caught red-handed accepting bribes of Rs 10 lakh from Gogoi. He had approached her promising a job through the APSC and demanded the money but she tipped off the police.
Later, based on his confession, the then APSC chairman and prime accused Rakesh Paul and some others were arrested by the police. Paul languished in jail for more than six years until walking out on bail in March this year.
