GUWAHATI: The Assam government is facing a political backlash after a man, who had reached out to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta through Twitter with claims of a “backdoor appointment” racket for 26,000 grade III and IV posts, was arrested by the police.
Victor Das, who owns a coaching institute in Guwahati, had claimed people were demanding Rs 3-8 lakh depending on the post. Further, he claimed that some former MLAs were also involved.
He was arrested under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 384 (extortion) and 505 (circulation of fake news or rumours) for “spreading rumours and indulging in a conspiracy to foment discord between various sections of society over selection to government posts.” A local court on Saturday sent him to seven-day police custody.
To ensure fairness, the government shut down the Internet during the conduct of the job tests on August 21 and 28. Over 14 lakh students had sat for the tests. The opposition parties are going hammer and tongs at the BJP-led government in the state for “suppressing the truth”.
“The government fears that corruption, which started from the CM’s constituency, will get exposed. So, in order to protect people around the CM who are involved in it and to conceal it, the police arrested Victor Das but the people of Assam have come to know this,” state Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
He said Congress would compel the government to make public what all Das had submitted as evidence. He accused the government of muzzling the voices of those who dare come out to speak the truth.
“If someone points his finger at the government, it will accuse him of indulging in extortion and fomenting communal tension,” Borah said.
He added, “When the ‘corruption king’ dons the CM’s mantle, against whom we brought seven charges of corruption and asked the CBI to probe, that man will definitely try to conceal his government’s misdeeds.”
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) asked if the Assam home department was so weak that it had to arrest the complainant. It said the arrest proved something was fishy.
“Not just Das, some others are also saying there is corruption. It is not for the complainant but for the police to substantiate the charges after an investigation,” the AAP said.
Activist-turned-politician Akhil Gogoi said the arrest was unprecedented and “illegal”. “The charges should have been probed. By arresting him, the government has sent across a message that there is no democracy in this country. If you raise your voice against corruption or the government, you will be arrested,” he said.