Assam: Nearly 400 Congress workers arrested at massive protest against SI exam paper leak

Guwahati: Several top leaders of the Congress party were arrested on Wednesday afternoon while protesting the paper leak of the Assam Sub-Inspector (SI) written examinations. The Grand Old Party's President Ripun Bora, and former minister Rockybul Hussain were among those who were arrested.

Earlier, a 500-member strong group of Assam Congress members, demanding a high-level inquiry into the cash-for-jobs scam in the Assam Police department, took out a procession from the Manabendra Sarma Complex in Dispur to the Assam Secretariat.

Blaming the Sarbananda Sonowal government for the leak, Bora called for a high-level judicial inquiry to further probe the matter. Talking to media on the sidelines of the massive protest, Bora termed the CBI as a "puppet" of the BJP government and said that it "cannot be trusted."

The senior Congress leader, calling for the resignation of the state's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (who also heads the Home Department), said that the leak must be probed by the Gauhati High Court and all culprits must be brought to book.

Bora, in a tweet, informed that around 400 workers of the Grand Old Party had been arrested by police

Meanwhile, Debabrata Saikia, the leader of the opposition in Assam, condemning the incident, said that Sonowal must step down for failing to fulfill his promises to the people.

"The government has not been able to fulfill a single promise. Instead, they have running several unlawful activities. This is why they (the current Government) should resign. They should take moral responsibility for their failure to fulfill any of the pre-poll promises, be it the provision of 24 hours electricity, a corruption-free administration, or good governance. They have failed in all fronts," the MLA said, slamming the government.

Saikia also said that the promise made by the BJP in 2014 to increase the daily wage rate of the tea tribe community has also not been fulfilled, which has triggered intense protests in Upper Assam.

"They have deprived the unemployed youths of Assam. They have been running a job racket. The scam in the recruitment of SIs by the Home department calls for the resignation of CM Sonowal," he further charged, adding, "A syndicate, comprising many of the top-rung BJP leaders, is being run out of the Assam Secretariat itself."

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