Nupur Bora, the Assam bureaucrat who has been arrested for alleged corruption, amassed assets 400 times more than her known sources of income, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday.
Raids were carried out at Nupur Bora's residences across Assam by the Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell on Monday in which ₹92 lakh in cash and jewellery valued at nearly ₹2 crore were recovered. An additional ₹10 lakh was seized from her rented house in Barpeta.
Sarma said penal measures beyond suspension or dismissal from the job are being pursued to ensure that the officer is held accountable as per law.
“She had amassed wealth 400 times more than her known sources of income. We think that not just suspension or dismissal from the job would suffice. We have to ensure penal measures through the legal process,” PTI quoted Sarma as saying.
He said that several others involved in the case are also being questioned.
Sarma urged the public to be vigilant about officers demanding bribes.
{{/usCountry}}Sarma urged the public to be vigilant about officers demanding bribes.
{{/usCountry}}Police said that Bora has been arrested on the basis of a preliminary inquiry. “We had searched her flat in Guwahati and a rented accommodation in Barpeta, recovering over ₹92.5 lakh in cash. It is the largest amount of cash recovered by our cell so far,” Senior Superintendent of Police, CM’s Special Vigilance Cell, Rosie Kalita, was quoted as saying.
According to the police, Bora also has two plots and three flats in her name in Guwahati, apart from the recovered cash and jewellery.
The CM said Bora had been under surveillance for the last six months following complaints about dubious land transfers. Borah was posted as Circle Officer in Goraimari in Kamrup district at the time of her arrest.
Nupur Bora faces ‘Miya’ link allegation
Born in 1989 in Golaghat, Bora joined the Assam Civil Service in 2019 as an Assistant Commissioner in Karbi Anglong. In 2023, she was transferred to Barpeta as a Circle Officer. A graduate in English literature from Guwahati University, Bora earlier worked as a lecturer at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) before joining the civil services.
During her tenure in Barpeta, she allegedly facilitated the illegal transfer of government and Satra land to suspected illegal settlers referred to as ‘Miya’, Moneycontrol reported.
In Assam, Bengali-speaking Muslims — often called Miya Muslims — are frequently portrayed by the BJP as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and a demographic “threat” to indigenous Assamese communities.