GUWAHATI: Three of the Assam Civil Service (ACS) officers accused in the `jobs-for-cash, scam in Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), have been arrested on Friday after they had surrendered before the court and with this number of such arrested officers went up to 21 even as police is looking for the remaining four absconding officers besides making an appeal for them to surrender.
Two of the ACS officers who have surrendered on Friday are close relatives of two ruling BJP politicians. They are : Sunayana Aideo, close relative of Union Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain, and Geetali Doley, close relative of state BJP leader Sumitra Patir who was a former Congress minister before joining the BJP prior to the last Assembly election in the state.
The third ACS officer who surrendered on Friday was Badrul Islam Choudhury .The surrendered officers have been sent to jail by the Special Court with a rider that they could be interrogated by police investigation team as and when required.
Another accused ACS officer Rajorshi Sen Deka, son of former Assam minister and Congress leader Nilmoni Sen Deka, is also expected to surrender anytime.
These 25 officers who are accused of using fraudulent means to get the coveted jobs, were subjected to handwriting test by the police investigation team and their handwriting samples were sent to five forensic laboratories in the country. The police have launched efforts to arrest them after receiving the forensic reports. They had appeared in APSC examinations in 2013 during the previous Congress regime in Assam.
All the arrested officers are being interrogated at the station of the Special Operation Union (SOU) of Assam Police. The police have expedited the investigation into the unprecedented jobs-for-cash scam in the state after Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal had directed the DGP of the state police in this regard last week.
Sonowal has, meanwhile, stated that no APSC-selected officers who have adopted unfair means to get the coveted jobs, would be spared and sternest action would be taken. Already three such officers were dismissed from the service.
The chairman of the APSC, Rakesh Paul who was appointed by the previous Congress government headed by Tarun Gogoi, have already been arrested in connection with the scam and is now in jail along with two other former members of the APSC.