Diban Deka, seen as a BJP leader, on the run in connection with exam scam
Guwahati:
Assam Police issued a lookout against Diban Deka, believed to be a ruling BJP leader, and former Deputy Inspector General PK Dutta in connection with leaked recruitment exam questions paper of the police.
The review was scheduled to take place on September 20, but was canceled minutes after it began when it was realized that the article had been leaked on social media.
Around 20 people have been arrested so far, but Deka and PK Dutta, for whom police say are the main defendants, are still at large. Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information on the location of the two.
Police raided various properties owned by PK Dutta, including a residence in the Hengrabari district of Guwahati and the Bhargab Grand Hotel in the Betkuchi area.
“We found five applicants’ cash receipts, English and Assamese advertisements for exams and training sessions, and 445 blank admission forms. We also found Rs 5.45 lakh of unrecorded money in one of the hotels, ”Surendra Kumar, IGP Assam (CID), told reporters at a press conference at police headquarters today.
Mr Kumar said the raids also revealed that those registered to take the exam checked in at the hotel on September 19 (one day before the exam) and left at 7 a.m. the next day ( the day of the exam).
In addition, a pistol and 40 rounds of ammunition were also recovered; PK Dutta has a firearms license but it expired in March.
Mr Kumar further said that a “disproportionate” amount of property and money was amassed by PK Dutta and that the cops were working with income tax officers to investigate the case.
BJP chief Diban Deka, who was once involved in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam which is under investigation by the CBI, was spotted earlier in the Ganeshguri area of Guwahati. It was seen on CCTV cameras during a mock test for around 50 candidates.
“We recovered CCTV footage from the lodge. The staff have already been arrested,” GP Singh, ADGP (Law and Order) said, adding that six had been arrested by the criminal division of Guwahati police in part of this case.
Deka, who identified himself as a member of the BJP national executive Kisan Morcha on Facebook, said last week that he discovered the leaked exam paper and tried to alert authorities but had ” left Assam “because he risked being” killed “by some of the” big corrupt officials “of the Assam police who are involved in the scam.
So far, a total of 19 people have been arrested – four by cops from Nalbari District, Bas-Assam, and other criminal services from Guwahati Police and Assam CID.
The investigation by the Assam CID (Crime Investigation Department), together with the Guwahati Police Crime Branch and district police officers, was launched after qualifying examinations for around 600 inspector positions Secondary – for which 60,000 had applied – were canceled due to the document’s leak.
Pradeep Kumar, chairman of the State-level Police Recruitment Bureau (SLPB) – which was responsible for last week’s review – said that when he registered the case with the CID, Deka and a another person accompanied him.
When asked why Deka was not arrested at the time, police said at the time they were not aware of his involvement.
“His name was not in the FIR. Later it emerged that he was also one of the defendants. One thing is certain – Diban Deka will be arrested, today or tomorrow. All those involved will be arrested. .. Said Singh.
Meanwhile, one of those arrested – Kuldeep Rajbongshi – is also believed to have close ties to the ruling BJP; in recent days, photos of him with party figures have been widely circulated online.
Pradeep Kumar resigned his post on Sunday after taking moral responsibility for the leak. The exams have been postponed to October 25 and the Assam Police Headquarters will be monitoring their conduct.
At the same time, in the interests of transparency for future recruitments to the posts of deputy inspector, the chief minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, reconstituted the board of directors of the SLPB on Monday, the DGP of Assam Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta was appointed the new president and the board was tasked with completing the exams. for this year by November 20.
