SI held for shielding rape and murder accused sent to CID custody

Guwahati: A court here sent an Assam Police sub-inspector to seven-day CID custody on Wednesday, a day after he was arrested by the investigating agency for allegedly accepting a bribe to protect a rape and murder accused in Assam’s Darrang district.
Sub-inspector Utpal Bora was the officer in-charge of Dhula police station when the incident took place. The CID sleuths said he had accepted Rs 5 lakh from an an SSB personnel, Krishna Kamal Baruah, to protect him in a case, in which he was accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old domestic help in June.
On Wednesday, a CID team took Bora to his rented accommodation at Mangaldai in Assam’s Darrang district and conducted a search in connection with the case. Sources in the CID said the team seized a few items and documents from his house during the search.
Bora had presented the death as a suicide case, arrested Baruah and sent him to jail. In August, the case was handed over to the CID following the chief minister’s order.
Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “After handing over the case to the CID, the department cracked it. First, suspicions were raised about Baruah’s role, and then that of of the SI. Following the investigation, it was found that SI Bora had taken money from the accused to shield him in the case.”