Assam cash for job scam: 13 serving officers arrested

GUWAHATI: Assam Police in simultaneous early morning raids on Wednesday across the state arrested 13 serving state civil and police services officers on charges of allegedly bribing their way to get their jobs.

Another 12 officers are likely to be arrested in a day or two, an investigator said.

All the accused were cleared in the joint selection process by Assam Public Service Commission in 2015.
The cash-for-job scam in the state public service commission rocked the state after the commission's chairman Rakesh Paul and two members and office staff were arrested last year. This is the first anti-corruption drive by the one-year-old Bjp-led government under chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

These 13 serving officers were arrested after their answer scripts were found to be doubtful. They turned out to be fake by forensic examination.

Three other officers of state civil services were arrested earlier after their fake answer sheets of APSC selection examination were seized from the residence of Rakesh Paul during raids conducted after Paul's arrest.
"In these fake answer scripts, candidates' marks were manipulated. Handwriting test conducted of the trio have also tallied with the fake answer scripts seized in the operation," sources added.

Investigation has revealed that Paul allegedly after taking huge cash from the candidates, used to arrange a fake exam of the candidates at various clandestine locations. During these fake exams, the candidates were given a chance to rewrite a fresh answer scripts so that their marks can be manipulated without being caught.