Notoriety of answer scripts duplication at Paul's press

CASH-FOR-JOB SCAM

Even the sigtures of invigilators were duplicated

Staff Reporter

Guwahati, March 30: During its investigation into the murkiness behind the APSC cash-for-job scam, the Dibrugarh police has come across certain startling tactics that former APSC chairman Rakesh Paul and his cohorts allegedly resorted to as they presided over a huge architecture of corruption.

One of the most surprising ones was the duplication of answer scripts meant for subjects ranging from two to five for every candidate who would eventually gain from such duplication because he had already paid for the job being looked for. The modus operandi was duplication of such answer scripts at the press owned by Rajib Paul, brother of Rakesh Paul, as well as by others in league. The duplicated answer scripts looked exactly the same as the origil ones provided by the APSC. So much so, that even the sigtures of invigilators were duplicated. The actual answer script of the candidate who had paid to secure a job would vanish and he would be later on be given duplicated blank answer scripts on the subjects he had fared poorly so that he could leisurely write his answers anew after consulting texts and other sources. All of this came to light during investigation.

Talking to The Sentinel on Friday, Dibrugarh police Additiol SP Surajit Singh Paneswar said, “Our investigation is on the right track. The whole inquiry and arrests made so far are based on evidence. Forensic tests have proved the duplication of answer scripts.”

Meanwhile, five of the accused in the case are still absconding – Rajib Paul who is suspected to be in Nepal, APS officer Rakesh Gupta, government employees Sudip Das and Mrigen Saikia who are now under suspension, and Mofiqul Islam, a businessman.

The Dibrugarh police is trying to b all the five accused. Rakesh Gupta is officially on leave, but the police has written to the State Home Department that discipliry action be taken against him after the expiry of his leave.

The police has already started preparation for issuing “absconder chargesheets” against the five accused. So far, the Dibrugarh police has filed three chargesheets in the case at the Court of Special Judge, Assam in Guwahati. More chargesheets are likely to follow.

The police had sent about 2,000 answer scripts of the 2015-16 batch of the APSC-conducted civil services examitions to various forensic laboratories across the country. Reports of 500 answer scripts are yet to arrive.