GUWAHATI
The Assam government has suspended 21 officers for their alleged involvement in a cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).
The suspended individuals include include 11 Assam Police Service officers and four Assam Civil Service officers. Two of these police officers were arrested a week ago.
In separate suspension orders on Thursday, the Personnel Department said these officers were beneficiaries of the “anomalies and malpractices carried out by the APSC” and their appointment was through the “enhancement” of their originally scored marks in the final tabulation sheet based on which the final results were declared.
One of the orders, accessed by The Hindu, said the recruitment of the officer concerned to government service on the basis of the recommendation of the APSC was illegal.
The scam is related to a combined competitive examination the APSC conducted in 2013. A Special Investigation Team set up to probe the scam named 34 officers as suspects in its final report.
The scam was unearthed in 2016 by a doctor named Angshumita Gogoi who tipped off the police in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh after an assistant engineer promised her a job through the APSC for ₹10 lakh. The police caught the assistant engineer red-handed accepting a part of the bribe.
The then APSC chairperson and prime accused, Rakesh Kumar Paul and a few others were arrested on the basis of the assistant engineer’s confession. Paul was granted bail in March after spending six years in jail.
