19 more officers arrested in Assam's cash-for-job scam
Guwahati, July 18: Assam Police on Wednesday arrested 19 government officers for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam, taking the number of total arrests in the case to 55.
The 19 officials include 13 of the Assam Civil Service (ACS) cadre, three of the Assam Police Service (APS) and three from the allied services cadre.
APS officer Pallavi Sharma, the daughter of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Lok Sabha MP from Tezpur constituency, R.P. Sharma, is among those arrested.
The Dibrugarh police, who have been probing the cash-for-job scam, had summoned these 19 officials to the Special Branch headquarters of the Assam Police at Kahilipara to collect their handwriting specimen.
It was said that their handwriting specimen would be sent for forensic verification.
All the 19 officers entered the Special Branch headquarters around 10 a.m where they were arrested later.
"We have already collected their handwriting from their offices concerned. We have also carried out forensic tests on their handwriting and matched with those recovered from the fake answer sheets recovered from the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC)," said Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Goutam Bora.
Bora said the police have enough forensic evidence to prove their involvement in the scam. "Each of these officials had submitted three to five fake answer sheets for the examinations."
The police had summoned all of them on the pretext of collecting their handwriting specimen as it was feared that the officials might abscond later.
The Assam Police had earlier arrested 36 persons for their involvement in the cash-for-job scam.
These officers had reportedly bribed huge amounts of money to the some members of the Commission, which holds examinations for these plum posts of state service cadres.
The police have also arrested APSC Chairman Rakesh Paul, members Basanta Doley and Samedur Rahman, APSC Examination Controller Pabitra Kaibarta and other officials of the Commission for accepting bribes to manipulate the results of examinations.
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BJP accuses Karnataka govt of 'failing' to prevent noise pollution caused by 'azaan'
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Members of the Opposition BJP on Tuesday slammed the Karnataka government for not taking measures to prevent the alleged noise pollution caused by 'azaan', the Islamic call to prayer.
BJP MLC D S Arun raised the issue in the Legislative Council during the question hour, accusing the ruling Congress of "appeasement" by failing to take action against mosques that are violating the Supreme Court's directives.
Karnataka Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre, responding to the question, said, as per the directives of the Supreme Court in sensitive zones, the noise level should not exceed 50 decibels during the day and 40 decibels at night, and in residential areas, 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night.
In commercial areas, the noise should not exceed 65 decibels during the day, 55 at night, and in industrial areas, 75 during the day and at night 70 decibels, he said.
Pointing out that the Karnataka government had issued an order in 2022, assigning responsibility to a committee headed by a DySPs or ACPs for the effective implementation of the rules, the minister said when a complaint is received about noise pollution, the Pollution Control Board will inspect it and provide information about the decibel level to the police to take further action, including filing of criminal cases.
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"Not only during azaan, but also during bhajans held in temples and marriage events, among others, the violations happen. There is a need to spread awareness. The Supreme Court has ordered against bursting firecrackers, but it is being violated. Efforts will be made to implement the rules effectively," he said.
Several BJP MLAs, including Arun, Bharathi Shetty, among others, were not satisfied with the minister's reply. They took strong exception to it.
Arun noted that in the last three years, only 52 cases have been taken, and said there are clear violations by almost all mosques, but no action has been taken. "The decibels have in fact increased under this government. The government is giving protection to them."
Reacting to this, Khandre, calling it a "sensitive matter", said, "It is not right to politicise the issue. The law of this land is equal for everyone."
Hitting back, Arun asked, "Why is the matter sensitive? What is preventing you (the government) from implementing the Supreme Court directives?"
