A special court here on Saturday remanded in judicial custody the suspended Assam Deputy Inspector General of Police Rounak Ali Hazarika, who was arrested on allegations of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The special court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.
Mr. Hazarika will be lodged in the Guwahati central jail. The Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell, which had arrested him on October 5, has been allowed to interrogate him. Vigilance Cell Superintendent of Police Rosy Kalita said the special court rejected the cell’s plea for further custody of Hazarika and sent him to judicial custody.
“We hardly got three days to question him while in custody. As for the rest of the period, he was hospitalised,” she said.
Probe ordered
The SP added the special court has asked the State Director General of Police to order an enquiry by an officer not less than the rank of Deputy Inspector of General of Police or Inspector General of Police to probe whether Hazarika was faking illness as the results of all clinical and toxicological tests conducted on him were found to be normal.
During an enquiry into a case registered against him in June this year, it was found that Hazarika had amassed immovable and movable assets which were disproportionate to his known sources of income from 1992 to 2021 when he was posted in Bongaigaon district, the police said.
It was found that he had spent ₹1.74 crore for the education of his two children till date and had undertaken international travel nine times without permission from the competent authority. The IPS officer was suspended in July for allegedly going abroad several times since 2011 without taking necessary permission of the Home department. Mr. Hazarika had joined the Assam Police Service in 1992 and was promoted to the IPS cadre. He was serving as DIG, Border, at the time of his suspension.
