Arrest of senior officials in several corruption-related cases, updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and spells of devastating floods kept Assam constantly in news in 2017. G Plus recounts the incidents that took place in Guwahati in 2017 that lead one to wonder how safe the city really is.
- MP Jewellers robbery - Four armed robbers looted more than 8 kgs of gold jewellery from MP Jewellers, ABC, GS Road, at gun point in May 2017. In a major breakthrough, four accused in the case were nabbed by police during another heist in Siliguri’s PC Jewellers in September and brought to Guwahati in November. All the four accused hail from Manipur.
- Theft at Titan showroom - In yet another case of lack of security in the state, a prominent watch store "World of Titan" in Christian Basti, GS Road, was robbed on the night of 6th June. Reportedly, watches worth 20 lakh rupees was looted from the store by the robber who broke into the store after closing hours by cutting the lock of the front shutter. The accused, identified as Raju Basfor, an employee of the showroom, was detained.
- Himanta Biswa Sarma’s e-mail account hacked - Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had filed a complaint on July 20 citing that his email ID was hacked by unscrupulous elements who have been sending emails seeking financial aids in his name. The minister tweeted, “My email id has been hacked by some unscrupulous elements and mails sent seeking financial help. Avoid any such mail. Case being registered.”
- Olivia Dutta Choudhury bank fraud - A deputy manager, Olivia Dutta Choudhury of Bhangagarh branch of the IndusInd Bank, who had decamped after allegedly siphoning off about Rs 3.70 crores from bank accounts of at least four customers, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh by a team of Guwahati Police in August 2017. The Gauhati High Court recently granted bail to Olivia Dutta Choudhury, on the grounds that majority of the money has been recovered and she has agreed to cooperate with the police in the investigation.
- Stone pelting incident - The Australian cricket team's bus was attacked after the second T20I match in Guwahati. The attack took place while the bus was ferrying team members back to their hotel from the stadium after the match, which the visitors won by eight wickets. Australian opening batsman Aaron Finch sent a tweet late on Tuesday night, saying a rock was hurled at the team bus while they were on their way back to the hotel. He called it "pretty scary". Gorchuk Police Station soon detained two youths, namely Pabitra Khyatriya and Rakesh Hazowari in connection with the incident.
- APSC ‘cash for job’ scam - With the former APSC chairman, Rakesh Paul, arrested the previous year, his interrogation and investigations lead to the arrest of 25 Assam Civil Service (ACS) and Assam Police Service (APS) officials of the 2015 batch in November 2017. The arrested ACS and APS officials, including a son of a former Congress minister, relatives of a BJP MLA and an MP and former bureaucrats, along with Paul, continue to be in jail and have been denied bail by the Gauhati High Court.
- Labour commissioner scam - In yet another scam investigated by the Chief Minister's Vigilance Cell, senior IAS official and former commissioner of the labour department Chohan Doley along with a contractor was arrested in connection with the Rs 121 crore printing scam in the Assam Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board. Investigations into the multi-crore scam in the social welfare department led to the arrest of seven persons, including six officials of the department, and 32 others, including three former social welfare ministers (Congress), have been questioned since the BJP-led government ordered a probe in November 2016.
- Sweta Agarwal murder case - Sweta Agarwal, a 5th semester student of KC Das Commerce College, who had topped the 12th standard boards of the state in 2015, was killed and burnt by her boyfriend Govind Singhal on December 4, 2017. Sweta was picked up by Govind after her exam on December 4 and brought to his residence. They both got into a quarrel and Sweta was pushed against the wall and she started bleeding from her head. Scared, Govind packed the body in a gunny bag and tried to dispose it off by dumping it in the garbage field near Dhirenpara. However, since the body was bleeding heavily, he brought it back to his house and burnt it after pouring petrol. Later, Govind's sister and mother arrived, who witnessed the crime and the mother called Sweta’s parents to inform that their daughter had committed suicide. His sister called the police and informed that there was a burnt dead body lying inside the bathroom of their residence. All three were taken into police custody, police started to carefully collect all evidences; they even made Govind demonstrate the entire incident and confess to the murder.
- KVK principal arrested for Bribery - Rajesh Dhawan, Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya Khanapara (KVK), had been arrested for taking bribe and the CBI got involved in the case because KV is a central school. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogated the KV Principal, investigated the Principal's room and checked all documents available there. A search operation was also carried out at the Principal's residence on the night of December 1
- Fake note racket busted - In an operation undertaken by Fatasil police, a fake note racket was busted in Dhirenpara, Guwahati. The operation was initiated by ACP Pranjal Bora which led to the apprehension of two men involved in the racket and the recovery of bundles of 2000 fake denominations worth rupees 26 lakh. The two men arrested have been identified as Julhaz Bhuyan and Shahjahan Ali of Barpeta’s Kawaimari and Jania respectively. They were reportedly running the fake note racket from a rented house in Dhirenpara.
