ACS officer Hemanta Kumar Dutta is suspected to have been absconding as he did not appear in CM Special Vigilance on Saturday and has turned off his mobile phone.

ACS officer Dutta, who was involved in Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan’s Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund scam, was asked to appear in CM Vigilance for questioning, however, he didn’t appear and further turned off his mobile phone.

The police have suspected that he might have been absconding as they couldn’t trace his location and that his mobile phone was switched off.

Meanwhile, several secretaries were directed to appear in the CM Vigilance and it is likely that they might be arrested after the interrogation process.

On the other hand, MP Ajit Bhuyan said that he has not been yet summoned in the MPLAD fund scam, however, if he is summoned then he shall cooperate with their investigation.

He said, “They have not summoned me yet, but if they summon me I will go and cooperate with their investigation in the scam.”

MP Bhuyan said that he is in no way involved in the fund scam and since 1991, he has with the common people. He said, “I have been to jail many times, and if I have to go again then I shall.”

He further challenged Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to prove that he is in any way involved with the scam. He said, “If the chief minister is thinking that I have afraid of such an allegation and to go to jail, then he is wrong. I would like to challenge him to prove that I was involved in the allegations made against me.”

He then asked to bring District Commissioner under investigation.

Notably, on May 4, Gauhati High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of ACS officer Hemanta Kumar Dutta along with one more ACS officer who was involved in the MPLAD fund scam. The two ACS officers were the Additional Commissioner of Kamrup Metropolitan.

On March 18, four ACS officers were suspended in connection with the fund scam in Assam.

According to sources, a fund was allocated from MP Bhuyan’s MPLAD fund for the construction of road in Assam’s Barpeta. However, the bill was released without completion of 75 per cent of the work.

The scam came to light when the CM’s Special Vigilance cell conducted an investigation where it was found that the four suspended officers signed the bill before completion of 75 percent of the road construction work.