Representative image of a police van.
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Guwahati: Talo Potom, an IAS officer from Arunachal Pradesh, facing charges of sexual abuse and abetment of suicide of a 19-year-old boy, surrendered before the police on Sunday night.
This came after the police launched a nationwide hunt for Potom, following two back-to-back suicides, charges of sexual exploitation and public protests.
The 53-year-old Potom, who earlier served as Deputy Commissioner of the State capital, Itanagar, is currently posted in New Delhi as a special under secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD).
Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Itanagar Capital Range) Tumme Amo told DH on Monday that Potom surrendered before the police at the Itanagar police station.
The victim, a 19-year-old boy, died allegedly by suicide on October 23 morning. He was working as a multi-tasking staff member in the PWD. In a suicide note purportedly written by the victim, he alleged that Potom and an executive engineer in the PWD had sexually abused him multiple times, and he got infected with HIV due to sexual exploitation by the second accused. He held both responsible for his taking the extreme step. As the news about the allegation spread, the executive engineer also died allegedly by suicide, hours later, on October 23 night.
The boy alleged that he was given the job by Potom when he served as the Deputy Commissioner of Itanagar between 2021 and 2025. He was recently posted in Delhi. The case was registered at the Nirjuli Police Station.
The police said the post-mortem of the victim and the second accused was conducted, while an HIV test was also conducted on the victim's body. "We are awaiting the reports," a police officer said.
The victim's family on Sunday joined a public protest in Itanagar demanding an immediate arrest of Potom.