Home guard Borsing Bey tried but failed thrice to clear the test for a police constable job. But his honesty finally won him the "dream job" on Saturday, six days after he refused a bribe from drug smugglers and helped Assam police recover drugs worth over Rs 12 crore.
"Today my dream to be a police constable has been fulfilled. Although I am a home guard, I always tried to ensure that I did not allow a stain to dirty my uniform," Bey said soon after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma handed him an appointment letter of a constable in the state police.
Bey, a home guard attached to Dillai police station in the militancy-affected Karbi Anglong district had stopped a night bus coming from Manipur on June 21. He caught two women from Tamil Nadu and another person from Manipur carrying three kg of methamphetamine drugs in the bus. They offered him a "huge bribe" to let them go but Bey refused and called a police team leading to recover the drugs. "They brought out a big bundle of Rs 500 notes. But I said no," Bey earlier said.
The drive was carried out as part of Assam government's "war against drugs" which was launched soon after the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government took oath on May 10.
"Borsing Bey set an example of how a person can maintain honesty even in a financially weak situation. He could have taken the bribe as the money he gets as a home guard is meagre but he refused," Sarma said while handing over the appointment letter.
In Assam, a home guard, serving as an auxiliary to police, gets fixed remuneration and their tenure is renewed every six months based on performance and requirement. Home guards have been demanding regularisation of their jobs for long. Bey, who joined as a home guard in 2003 was earning Rs 9,000 per month.
Earlier, the director-general of police, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta provided him Rs 1 lakh as a reward and applauded his honesty. The state cabinet, which met on Thursday, however, decided to appoint him as a constable.
Officials said Bey was appointed on Saturday as it was the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. "It will drive home a message to other police personnel," one officer said.
Sarma said drugs worth over Rs 135 crore has been seized from across Assam since the drive was launched 45 days ago. "Earlier Assam was believed to be just a transit route for drugs coming from Myanmar via Manipur and other states. But in the past few years, a market for such drugs has grown in our state and our young boys are dangerously falling prey to drug abuse," Sarma said.
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