Assam: SIT files charge sheet against four in APSC cash-for-jobs scam

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Assam Police entrusted with the investigation into the cash-for-jobs scam in the APSC today filed another charge sheet against four accused in the scam in the court of the special judge at Guwahati. The accused are former Principal Controller of Examination Nanda Babu Singh, tainted APS officer Sukanya Das, suspended Superintendent of Taxes Wahida Begum, and suspended Assistant Employment Officer Rakesh Das.

This is the 13th charge sheet filed in the scam related to fake answer scripts and inflation of marks in the Combined Competitive Exams 2013-14 of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), at a time when Rakesh Paul was the chairman.

The charge sheet filed today names Nanda Babu Singh as the prime accused. It is alleged that Sukanya Das faked the answer scripts to get her marks increased and secure a job in the APSC in the ranks of the Assam Police Service. A similar charge is also made against Rakesh Das. Waheeda Begum also faces the charge of using fake answer scripts to inflate the marks obtained by her in the CCE exams, through which she got the job as a Superintendent of Taxes. Following her arrest in the scam, she was suspended from service.

It should be noted that the handwriting of Rakesh Das in the answer scripts and that contained in the sample taken by SIT for comparison bear no similarity. In fact, they were found to be completely different, raising the suspicion that Das had not appeared in the exam at all but that someone else wrote it for him.

The SIT had collected the handwriting samples of the two other arrested ASPs, Aishwarya Jibon Baruah and Shahjahan Sarkar, in addition to Rakesh Das, for forensic analysis after obtaining permission from the special court to do so.

The 12th charge sheet filed in the scam also contained the name of Rakesh Das, as well as Aishwarya Jibon Baruah and Shahjahan Sarkar. The three accused were suspended from service on November 30, 2023.

It should be mentioned here that the entire scam was brought to light following an FIR filed in the Dibrugarh police station alleging gross anomalies in the conduct of CCE 2013-14. It was alleged that huge amounts of money had changed hands in lieu of jobs in the APSC and named the then chairman, Rakesh Paul, as the primary suspect. Subsequent investigations confirmed his role. Thereafter, the SIT was formed to probe the scandal involving officials who were appointed after paying wads of cash and fudging the answer scripts with the help of APSC officials like Nanda Babu Singh.

With the four names in the charge sheet filed today, the total number of persons in the charge sheets has risen to 80.

It also needs to be mentioned that 37 ACS and allied services officers were indicted in the report by the one-man Justice (retd.) Biplab Sharma Judicial Inquiry Commission, which was formed to probe the CCE (Combined Competitive Examinations) 2013 and 2014 conducted by the APSC.

 Also Read: APSC cash-for-job scam: ED filed charge sheet against Samedur Rahman (sentinelassam.com)

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