INDIA
The cash-for-jobs scam that has rocked the Public Service in the Indian State of Assam for more than a year has widened with the arrest of 19 more officers.
So far, police have arrested 54 officers for their alleged involvement in the scam.
The latest arrests include administrative workers, three members of the Police Service, a district transport officer and a tax inspector.
Police have summoned all of them to appear for a handwriting test that will show whether the Public Service examination papers they submitted were actually their own work.
Among those arrested was Pallavi Sarma, the daughter of a Federal MP, and the children of a former judge.
All those arrested were recruited by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) in 2016.
The scam was uncovered last year with the arrest of an assistant engineer with the Department of Town and Country Planning in Dibrugarh for demanding a bribe from a woman who wanted a job.
The woman went to the police.
Further investigation revealed a cohort of senior officials at the APSC selling jobs, in some cases in senior positions.
This led to the arrest of the Chair of the APSC, Rakesh Kumar Paul (pictured) and several of his senior colleagues.
Dispur, 19 July 2018
