A court in Assam on Thursday sent Diban Deka, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has now been expelled, to five-day police custody in connection with the Assam police recruitment scam, PTI reported.
Deka along with retired Deputy Inspector General of Police PK Dutta have been named as the main accused in the exam paper leak scam. The police had also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about their whereabouts. Deka was taken into custody after he surrendered at the Patacharkuchi police station, about 95 km northwest of Guwahati, in Bajali district on Wednesday night. Dutta is yet to be traced and it is suspected that he is hiding somewhere near the India-Nepal border.
A police team produced Deka before court of the chief judicial magistrate in Guwahati on Thursday. He was sent to the custody of crime branch for five days.
A BJP spokesperson said the state unit of the party expelled Deka with immediate effect after his arrest. Several senior leaders also denied Deka’s link to the party, saying his arrest shows the BJP-led state governments zero tolerance against corruption, according to The Telegraph. The BJP claimed they acted swiftly and effectively in the case.
The saffron party also raked up Congress leader Ripun Bora’s acquittal in a murder case, which the Central Bureau of Investigation has contested. “Bora has no moral right to raise issues related to corruption,” BJP chief spokesperson Rupam Goswami said. “Why did he go to Tihar? Our government has acted swiftly to arrest the accused.”
Deka had identified himself as a national executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kisan Morcha on Facebook. He was also reportedly expecting to contest the 2021 elections.
The recruitment exam for 579 vacant posts was scheduled to be held on September 20. However, the exam was cancelled minutes after authorities found that the question paper was leaked on social media. Over 60,000 candidates had appeared to write the exam, which has now been rescheduled for October 25.
With Deka’s arrest, the total number of people apprehended connection with the question paper leak for the police sub-inspector recruitment examination in the state has gone up to 25.
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