Assam Police SI Scam: Prime accused P K Dutta tests negative for COVID-19

Guwahati: Ex-IPS officer and the prime accused in the Assam Police Sub Inspector (Unarmed Branch) P K Dutta on Wednesday tested negative for the novel coronavirus, reports said. Dutta was tested for the virus at Guwahati's Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH). The prime accused in the scam will be produced in a Guwahati Court shortly.

The former DIG was finally arrested on Tuesday after a 15-days-long manhunt. Dutta was detained from Kakarbhitta on the Nepalese side of the India-Nepal border while he was on his way to Assam by road. His son-in-law, a Nepali citizen, was accompanying him.

An associate is believed to have helped Dutta and his son on September 23 to reach Siliguri in West Bengal, where they spent a night at a hotel. Dutta's son-in-law is believed to have helped the two enter into Nepal the next day.

Following his arrest by a team of Darjeeling police, Dutta has been brought back to Guwahati city, where he is being questioned about the recruitment scam. He was taken to the MMCH earlier today under the cover of heavy security.

Dutta was arrested after Assam's Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, said that he would soon be tracked down soon. According to reports, the police used Dutta's digital footprints to track him down.

Earlier, the police had received reports that the absconding former DIG could be living in Nepal with his son-in-law after going on the run.

Dutta's name surfaced in the cash-for-jobs scam in the police after the recruitment exam for Sub-Inspectors (Unarmed Branch) had to be cancelled after reports of a leak of the question papers through WhatsApp.

Dutta and ruling BJP leader Diban Deka are suspected to have assured jobs to many candidates in lieu of cash.

Deka, who was also arrested on October 1, is alleged to have procured the question paper ahead of the written test. He had surrendered at Patacharkuchi area of Bajali district amid a massive manhunt to trace the absconding suspects.

According to sources, Deka has been arrested by the additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, GP Singh and deputy commissioner of police (DCP), crime, Barun Purkayastha.

Meanwhile, Assam's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal urged on the people of the state to have "full faith" in the Assam Police even as several police officials have been arrested for taking the bribe and for their alleged involvement in cases of corruption, including the mega Sub Inspector recruitment scam.

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