Assam: SIT questions 4 officers in APSC recruitment scam
Guwahati: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam police on Saturday questioned four officers in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) recruitment scam.
The officers questioned by SIT include an Assam Police Service (APS) officer, Samarajyoti Bhuyan, two Excise Superintendents, Manavjyoti Das and Vedanta Bhushan Shaikia, and a Superintendent of Taxes, Ganpati Roy. Notably, Manavjyoti Das was previously arrested on bribery charges.
The investigation focuses on a suspected mismatch between exam scores and final ranks, said an official.
These officers are being probed for allegedly receiving undeserved high ranks despite obtaining low marks.
This follows the questioning of five APSC examiners and inspectors at the CID office in April.
The SIT (Special Investigation Team) also summoned another five examiners and inspectors related to the 2013 APSC exam. Around 30 examiners and inspectors are expected to appear before the CID for questioning.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the Assam government in on September 30, 2023, following a Gauhati High Court directive to submit a thorough report into the irregularities in the 2013 and 2014 combined competitive examinations conducted by the APSC.
The SIT was formed after the one-man inquiry commission of Justice (retired) Biplab Kumar Sharma filed the report on the investigation into the anomalies and malpractices by APSC while conducting the combined competitive exam (CCE) 2013 last year and filed the report for the CCE 2014 in October.
The SIT, led by Munna Prasad Gupta, ADGP, CID, Assam, questioned 25 officers suspected of securing APSC jobs through unfair means.
However, based on the commission’s findings, only six were arrested, but questions linger about why the SIT did not question several allegedly involved officers.
Justice (retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma Commission’s report named 34 officers as guilty, but no action has been taken against the remaining officers.
The Assam government only suspended 21 officers including 11 APS officers, four civil service officers, and six allied service officers in December 2023, despite the commission’s findings against 34 officers.