Approver's confession seals fate of Pincha; Ghosh in jail

Cash-for-job scam

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 24: The confessional statement of Avisika Baruah, an accused-turned approver in the cash-for-job scam in the APSC, has sealed the fate of former superintendent of taxes, Dhubri Vikash Kumar Pincha.

In her recorded confessional statement, Avisika has made it clear that she saw Pincha in the house of tainted APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul located at Shaktigarh and at Satsang Vihar areas in Guwahati while negotiating, on behalf of Paul, with other probable APSC candidates before the CCE (Mains) 2013 examinations. This statement, together with the mention made by the police in its charge-sheet against Pincha that he and his wife Nishamoni Deka got selection in the APSC, is enough to seal the fate of Pincha. The investigators termed it as a ‘clear conspiracy’.

The results of forensic laboratory tests of the answer scripts of APSC candidates have also revealed that the answer scripts of Pincha were his not original ones, nor were they printed in the Government Press. The laboratory has further revealed that the answer scripts shown as that of Pincha were printed at Subhadeep Printer. This is a clear violation of APSC examination rules.       

The laboratory tests have further revealed that Pincha did write in fake answer scripts and the signatures of invigilators on the answer scripts are also fake ones. The signatures of invigilators on the answer scripts of Pincha do not match with the signatures of any of the invigilators on duty on that day of examinations in the particular hall.

The case of former Superintendent of Taxes, Morigaon Manash Pratim Haloi is a bit different. His answer scripts for General English were recovered by the investigators from the house of Rakesh Paul at Shaktigarh Path, Bhangagarh. The score of marks for General English papers of Haloi had been 141 which was enhanced to 191 later, enabling him to get the job, the investigators found. The investigators also found replacement of original answer scripts of some other candidates with new ones after the CCE 2013 and 2014 examinations were over.      

Meanwhile, the Court of the Special Judge, Guwahati sent Sonitpur DTO Prasenjit Ghosh for 14-day judicial custody on Tuesday. Ghosh had been arrested on April 9, 2018 by Dibrugarh Police in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the APSC.