Guwahati, Oct 1 (IANS): Leader of ruling BJP Diban Deka, one of the prime accused in Assam police recruitment scam, was arrested and the saffron party expelled him from the organisation, official and party sources said on Thursday.
Police said that Deka was arrested soon after he surrendered to the police at Pathacharkuchi in Barpeta district late on Wednesday night. He was produced at the Kamrup chief judicial magistrate court, which remanded him for five days in police custody. Police officials are now interrogating him at the Guwahati City Police crime branch to unearth the scam. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader was absconding since the police recruitment scam came to light on September 20.
BJP sources said that the party expelled Deka with immediate effect after his arrest. He identified himself on his Facebook post as the national executive member of BJP's Kisan Morcha and had contested Assam assembly poll as a BJP candidate in 2011. With Deka, the total number of people arrested in connection with the Assam police sub-inspector recruitment examination question paper leak has gone up to 25.
Deka and former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prasanta Kumar Dutta are absconding for the past 12 days forcing the police authority to issue the lookout notices and announced cash prize of Rs one lakh to know the whereabouts of the duo. Dutta is yet to be traced and the police is suspect that he is currently hiding in Nepal.
The main opposition Congress is agitating on the issue and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal after alleging that his office was involved in the police recruitment question paper leak scam. Assam's Pradesh Congress President Ripun Bora and opposition leader Debabrata Saikia announced that the party would hold protests in front of the office of the Superintendent of Police in all the 33 districts across the state on October 5.
The Chairman of Assam State Level Police Recruitment Board (SLPRB), Pradeep Kumar, quit the post earlier this week citing moral responsibility for the recruitment test paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the written exam on September 20. A probe into the sub-inspector recruitment scam is underway.
Following the direction of the Chief Minister, the CID and the Crime Branch of Assam Police are probing the exam paper leak issue. The investigating team has raided various locations, including that of former DIG Dutta, who is now on the run. The arrested people include, a woman employee of the state irrigation department and one from the Special Task Force of Assam Police.
The investigation is being personally supervised by Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta. On September 20, the SLPRB had cancelled the written test a few minutes after it had started after the question paper was leaked on social media. Over 66,000 candidates had appeared in 154 centres in all the 33 districts of the state for the written test for 597 posts of sub-inspectors in Assam Police.