Cash-for-jobs scam accused Assam officer surrenders

Guwahati, Nov 20 (IANS) An Assam Civil Service (ACS) officer who was allegedly involved in a cash-for-jobs scam, surrendered to the police on Monday.

With the surrender of officer Rumi Saikia before a special magistrate, the total number of ACS, Assam Police Service (APS) and allied service officers in custody increased to 23, the police said, adding that two other accused officers including ACS Nishamoni Deka and APS Rakesh Gupta were still at large.

"We are looking for the two other officers. They are absconding but we hope they would surrender soon.

"This is not the end of the investigation. We are awaiting forensic reports of more then 400 such candidates who had appeared in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) exams.

"More arrests are likely after the reports confirm their involvement," said a senior police official.

Assam Police had issued warrants against 25 of these officers after their handwriting matched with some fake answer scripts recovered from an APSC official who had conducted the examination.

The police had last year arrested APSC Chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul and members of the Commission, including Samedur Rahman and Basanta Kumar Doley, and three other officials of the Commission who allegedly took money for selecting candidates for the state services.

The breakthrough in the cash-for-jobs scam took place last year after a police team in Dibrugarh led by Additional Superintendent of Police S.S. Panesar arrested an engineer of the Town and Country Planning Department while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)