Cash-for-job: BJP MP’s daughter among 19 held

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, July 18

The daughter of a BJP Lok Sabha member is among the 19 more serving Assam Government officials arrested on Wednesday in connection with the “cash-for-job scam” that rocked Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) before the present BJP-led government came to power in the state in May 2016.

These officials, selected by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) in 2016, are serving at various locations in the state. They were called to the Assam Police Special Branch headquarter to undergo a handwriting test and subsequently arrested. They will be produced in the court on Thursday.

So far, 55 serving officials have been arrested in connection with the scam after forensic examination indicated that they indulged in malpractices. The 19 officials arrested on Wednesday included 13 Assam Civil Service officers (ACS), three Assam Police Service (APS) officers and three allied service officers.

Pallabi Sharma (APS), daughter of BJP MP from the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency RP Sharma, was among the officers arrested on Wednesday. The BJP MP has cried foul over the arrest of her daughter and termed it a political conspiracy aimed at him. He said many other officers appointed at the behest of some other powerful political leaders had been kept out of the investigation process.

Now removed APSC Chairman Rakesh Pal, during whose tenure the scam took place, has been in police custody since later part of 2016. Other officials arrested on Wednesday include ACS officers Utpol Bhuyan, Monika Terangpi, Dhruba Jyoti Chakraborty.

The scam 

• The Assam Public Service Commission made some selections in 2016 before the current BJP government came to power
• So far, 55 serving officials have been arrested after forensic examination indicated that they indulged in malpractices