GUWAHATI: In a recent development in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cash-for-job scam of 2013-14, two Assam Police Service (APS) officers, Sahjahan Sarkar and Aiswarya Jiban Baruah, arrested on November 22, have been remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a lower court in Guwahati on Tuesday.
This was confirmed by a senior official of the SIT Committee handling the probe to GPlus.
Simultaneously, civil service officers Akashi Duwara and Tridib Roy faced interrogation by the special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the case.
Sarkar and Baruah were apprehended from Jorhat and Udalguri districts, respectively, as part of the ongoing investigation into the high-profile cash-for-job scandal.
Sources within the police revealed that the SIT, on Tuesday, questioned Duwara, currently posted in Jorhat, and Roy, stationed in Hailakandi in Barak Valley.
The SIT reportedly possess evidence linking the two civil service officers to the case, raising the possibility of their arrest.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, addressing the issue, stated to the media, "If we keep on talking about the investigation, it may trigger fear among the aspirants. Police will take whatever action is required in the present case. That is 100% certain."
Asserting that the APSC is now clean, Chief Minister Sarma added, "Let the ongoing exams be over. Thereafter, it will be clear how transparently we conducted the examinations."
The four officers in question are among the 34 Assam civil service and police service officers listed in a nine-page tabulation sheet recovered during the investigation at the residence of former APSC chairperson Rakesh Paul. Paul, initially arrested in connection with the scam, secured bail in March after spending over six years behind bars.
The Special Investigation Team, headed by the ADGP of CID, was formed following the direction of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, prompted by observations from the Gauhati High Court.
The court, during the hearing of petitions related to the APSC cash-for-job scam, directed the SIT to submit an interim report in a sealed cover, questioning the logic or rationale behind separating the cases of the appellants and those whose names appeared in the tabulation sheets.
DGP GP Singh, upon constituting the SIT, assured that action would be taken if prosecutable evidence was discovered against anyone involved in the cash-for-job scam.