Additional superintendent of police Surjeet Singh Panesar will continue as the investigating officer of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cash-for-job scam case registered at Dibrugarh police station despite his transfer from Dibrugarh to Golaghat district.
An official source said the state home department has written to the additional director-general of police (law and order) Mukesh Agrawal on Monday, intimating him about the state government’s approval to allow Panesar to continue as the investigating officer of the case.
Panesar, posted as the additional superintendent of police (headquarters) in Golaghat district, was investigating the high-profile case (number 936/2016) since it was registered at Dibrugarh police station in 2016.
When Panesar was transferred out of Dibrugarh recently, there was apprehension that changing the investigating officer at this juncture may affect further probe into the scam in which many big names are involved.
This case was registered after a job aspirant, Anshumita Gogoi, lodged a complaint alleging that Nabakanta Patir, an engineer, had offered her a government job through the APSC if she paid a bribe. Her complaint first led to arrest of Patir in October 2016, and based on his confession, then APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul was arrested in November 2016.
Dispur has also approved continuation of additional superintendent of police Subhasish Baruah as the investigating officer of another case registered at Bhangagarh police station here related to alleged corruption in selection of agriculture development officers (ADOs) by the APSC.
Baruah was investigating the Bhangagarh police station case as the additional deputy commissioner of police (central), Guwahati, but he was transferred and posted as the additional superintendent of police (headquarters) in Morigaon district recently.
The Bhangagarh police station case was registered in August 2017, based on a complaint lodged by job aspirant Bedanta Bikash Das accusing Paul and Sayed Musharraf Hussain, an APSC employee, of demanding Rs 15 lakh from him for the ADO’s post.
In a related development, a special court in Assam on Tuesday allowed a police plea, seeking more time to complete its probe into the Dibrugarh police station case.
Special judge Gautam Baruah extended the deadline for police to complete the probe till June 13.
Dibrugarh police had already chargesheeted more than 60 accused persons in this case, while some of the accused are absconding.
Among those evading arrest are Paul’s brother Rajiv, Sudeep Das, Mofidul Islam and Mrigen Saikia, who were allegedly engaged by Paul for taking money from candidates to offer them government jobs.
The court had issued non-bailable warrants against Das, Saikia, Islam and Assam police service officer Rakesh Gupta but the warrants could not be executed yet.
