GUWAHATI: Dr Angshumita Gogoi, who had exposed a multi-crore rupees cash-for-jobs scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), has joined the BJP to fight corruption together.
The dental surgeon from Upper Assam joined the party at a programme in the presence of former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Guwahati on Friday. The 38-year-old doctor said that she was encouraged by the BJP’s fight against corruption.
“I got inspired by the BJP’s ideology. The way the party is taking Assam, Northeast and India forward, I thought this is the best platform that I can work from,” she told this newspaper.
“The BJP is trying to establish a clean society. Only this government has taken measures to fight corruption,” she said adding “The government alone cannot do everything. Support from the public is needed.”
Stating that she was waging an anti-graft battle alone, she said she would now fight the menace along with her BJP colleagues.
In December 2016, the police in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh had arrested an assistant engineer, Nabakanta Patir, after he was caught red-handed accepting bribe of Rs.10 lakh from Gogoi.
He had approached her promising a job through the APSC and demanded money in return. Later, Dr. Angshumita Gogoi had tipped off the police leading to his arrest.
Based on the assistant engineer's confession, a personal security officer of an APSC member was arrested. During interrogation of the duo, it emerged that they were working as conduits in the sale of the cushy jobs.
Subsequently, the then APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul, some members of the Commission and over 40 gazetted officers of the state’s civil administration and the police were arrested for their alleged involvement in the scam.