Paul was examiner for fake scripts: Police

GUWAHATI: The suspended Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman and the key accused in the cash-for-job scam in the commission, Rakesh Paul, had himself played the role of examiner of the 'fake' answer scripts of all the 24 arrested state public service officers, according to the chargesheet by police.
In the 46-page chargesheet filed before the special judges' court here on Thursday, the investigating official explained how Paul had supplied the accused with fake answer scripts for rewriting their papers after the 'real' examination, and thereby replaced their original answer scripts.

"The expert opinion and forensic tests revealed that the handwriting in the fake answer booklets given to the accused is of Paul, revealing a criminal conspiracy between him and the candidates," police said in the chargesheet.

Earlier, duplicate answer scripts were seized from Paul's residence. His brother Rajib, who is currently absconding, used to print these fake answer scripts which needed to be printed in a government press.

Police informed the court that during the investigation, Pabitra Kaibarta, an accused who was previously arrested, the former assistant controller of examinations, had confessed and led the investigation officer to the confidential examination branch of APSC and shown the answer scripts of the illegally appointed candidates which Paul had himself engineered. In November, police had seized 36 lots of answer scripts.

Explaining how Rajashri Sen Deka, the son of former state agriculture minister Nilomoni Sen Deka, manipulated his selection into APSC, police in the chargesheet said, "The forensic examination of the seized answer scripts of General English and Political Science written by Deka were not original. The expert opinion clearly indicates that Deka had written the fake answer scripts. The signatures of the invigilator on verification on the answer scripts were fake and mismatched with the invigilators who were actually on duty of the day of the examination." In the majority of the cases, the candidates rewrote the fake answer scripts of subjects like english, general studies, political science and education.

Dibrugarh Police also said they have been waiting for the state government's nod to go ahead with the prosecution of the arrested officials. "The sanction for prosecution under the provisions of prevention of corruption act and code of criminal procedure has been applied from the competent authority and awaited," said the chargesheet.