SHILLONG: Assam Rifles’ top brass were caught taking bribes in a sting operation by Tehelka SIT team.
Tehelka has released this investigative story on Thursday, supported by a sting operation with footages running into more than four hours.
In a statement issued here on Thursday, Managing Editor, Tehelka, Mathew Samuel said that the investigation exposes the deep-rooted corruption inside the office of India’s oldest paramilitary force- Assam Rifles, which is supposed to spearhead the counter insurgency operations in India’s north east.
The sting operation named ‘Operation Hilltop’ has caught low ranking clerks to high ranking officials on camera while taking bribe from an approved contractor working with the Assam Rifles.
He said that the investigation has found that the corruption in Assam Rifles happens in an organised manner with a well-planned racket, which includes clerks, engineers and high-ranking officials, demanding 30 per cent for every project from the contractors.
“Our footages show that they take bribe in uniforms inside their office, right under the nose of the Director General of the Assam Rifles. Tehelka’s secretly recorded video footages also reveal that a share of the bribe goes to the Director General of Assam Rifles (DG), the Additional Director General and the Chief Engineer,” he said.
Further Tehelka’s investigation reveals that over the years some of these officials have accumulated a huge amount of illicit wealth. Also, there are many projects being floated around unnecessarily despite not having any such requirement, just to mint money out of it.
He said that the Operation Hilltop began after a C-level contractor working with the Assam Rifles, CC Mathew, approached Tehelka office informing them about the illegal activity and One of their reporters went along with Mathew and covertly recorded the sequence of events.
Tehelka has now put these footages in the public domain.
There have been allegations of financial irregularities in the past against the high and mighty in the Assam Rifles but those cases hardly reached a logical conclusion.
He said that it also raises a serious question about the functioning of both the Intelligence Bureau and the Vigilance Department.
“This unholy practice will tarnish the Assam Rifles in totality, which would in turn affect the morale of the jawans, who have got nothing to do with the existing corrupt dealings,” the statement said.
Tehelka’s sting operation is a clinching evidence to nab the guilty.
Here is the link of the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IerSCcQsCM
When tried to contact, the phone number of Assam Rifles PRO was found to be switched off.