File photo of Debabrata Saikia

Leader of opposition in the Assam assembly, Debabrata Saikia on September 28 slammed the state government for its inability to conduct a fair recruitment examination for the post of sub-inspector of police.

In a statement on September 28, Saikia said that chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has disheartened the people of Assam, especially the youth, by his lame statements and insipid role in connection with the recruitment scam.

“The need of the hour is to institute an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Hon’ble Gauhati High Court to get to the bottom of the matter, but one gets the impression that Mr Sonowal, who is charge of the Home department, is influencing the police into diverting the investigation into a maze,” Saikia said.

Each and every recruitment test conducted by various departments during the tenure of the incumbent state government has been marred by severe irregularities and several deprived candidates have been forced to knock on the doors of the Gauhati High Court, the senior Congress leader added.

“One of the companies involved in conducting some of these recruitment tests in Assam was guilty of committing irregularities during similar exercises in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, which led to litigation and blacklisting of the firm by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. In the present case, the Kerala government-owned firm Keltron was selected to conduct the recruitment test for the posts of sub-inspector of police. However, there is no effort even now to provide clarity regarding the modalities of the relevant agreement and, more importantly, whether Keltron was actually directed to award sub-contracts to two local firms,” he said.

The leader further alleged that some police officials and BJP leaders were offering jobs to candidates in lieu of cash. “I would like to mention that certain officials of the Assam Olympic Association and Assam Cricket Association were reportedly collecting money from some candidates by promising jobs under the sports quota,” he alleged.

Saikia further listed nine points which needed to be acted upon immediately to ensure a fair probe into the scam. Among the points included an inquiry by a Gauhati High Court judge, probe into escaping of former DIG PK Dutta and BJP leader Dibon Deka, relationship of Dibon Deka with cabinet minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, among others.

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