Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that all of the police officials caught for accepting bribes in the Bajali district have been closed to their reserves.
This comes after as many as seven people including five police officials and two drivers of the Bajali police station were detained by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police for allegedly accepting bribes.
Addressing reporters in the aftermath of the incident, the Assam CM said, "They have been detained in connection with a case pertaining to economic offences. All of them have been reserve closed."
He said, "The superintendent of police (SP) of Bajali, Siddhartha Buragohain has also been closed to reserves. In the aftermath of the incident, several police officials will be transferred."
CM Sarma said that instructions for the same will be relayed by the concerned departments by evening today.
Meanwhile, if the involvement of the detained police officials is proved, they will face appropriate action, the Assam CM mentioned.
He said, "If found guilty, all of them stand to be arrested. Moreover, the number of people to be arrested in connection with the matter is also likely to go up as investigation proceeds."
"We have to change the behaviour of police officials. Even top-level police officials will not be spared," added CM Sarma.
It may be noted that the CID in Assam detained seven people, five police officers, and two drivers of the Bajali police station for accepting bribes.
Puskal Gogoi, DySP (HQ), Bajali, SI Anup Jyoti Patiri, O/C, Patacharkuchi PS, SI (P) Debajit Giri, i/c Bhawanipur OP under Patacharkuchi PS, ASI Sasanka Das of Patacharkuchi PS, ABC Injamamul Hassan, PSO of Smti Gayatri Sonowal, the then Addl SP (HQ), Bajali are the five police officers and Deepjoy Roy, Nabir Ahmed are the drivers who were involved in the unlawful activity.
The police officials' arrest stems from allegations lodged by a supari businessman, resulting in a comprehensive investigation.
It is to be mentioned that after receiving complaint about demanding money, the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, Assam laid a trap in the first week of August, but, they couldn’t make it as the officers became cautious about it. However, the complaint was found to be prima facie true. On that basis, a criminal case was registered on August 31.
Authorities continue to delve into the matter to uncover the truth behind these allegations.
