JOIN USAssam: 100 government officials arrested on graft charge in two years
At least 107 persons, of which 100 are government officials, have been arrested in Assam in the past two years while allegedly taking bribes from people.
A report released by Assam Police said that the arrests have been made by its vigilance and anti-corruption branch, mostly based on complaints lodged through helpline numbers and social media platforms. The statement said seven of those were middlemen while 21 were gazetted officers.
The arrests have been made under Himanta Biswa Sarma government's drive against corruption in government departments. Sarma had ordered for such a drive after taking charge as the CM on May 10, 2021.
The report said 11 arrests were made in 2021 followed by 50 in 2022 while 28 persons have been arrested till May 10 this year. The Sarma government completed two years on May 10. The state police opened a toll-free complaint number (18003453767), a Whatsapp number (6026901243), and Twitter and Instagram handles, in order to allow people to lodge complaints of corruption.
The police said the identity of the complainant is kept secret.
The latest arrest was made on May 10 when Mridul Duari, an assistant engineer of the office of Executive Engineer of Suklai Serfang Goreswar Division (irrigation) in Baksa district allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs. 30,000 for issuing work orders to a contractor. A trap was laid based on a complaint lodged by the contractor and accordingly Duari was arrested when he took Rs. 20,000 as a bribe.
The police report said that 43 chargesheets have been filed against 50 such arrested persons, mostly government officials so far.