Former IPS officer accused in Assam job scam sent to 6-day police custody

The former police officer, who had been absconding for nearly two weeks, was hiding in Nepal.

A retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer arrested in connection with a police job recruitment scam in Assam was on Wednesday sent to six days of police custody by a city court.

Former IPS officer PK Dutta, was nabbed from Kakarbhitta on the Indo-Nepal border on Tuesday was brought to Guwahati by road early Wednesday.(Sourced)

PK Dutta, who retired as deputy inspector general of police (DIG), was nabbed from Kakarbhitta on the Indo-Nepal border on Tuesday and brought to Guwahati by road. The former police officer, who had been absconding for nearly two weeks, was hiding in Nepal.

“We knew Dutta was hiding in Nepal and informed the Union home ministry about it. Accordingly, we laid a trap for him and Dutta fell into it,” GP Singh, ADGP (law and order), told journalists on Wednesday.

Dutta, who was rought to Guwahati by road in the early hours of Wednesday, was produced before the court of chief judicial magistrate which remanded him to the custody of the criminal investigation department (CID) of police for six days.

Before being produced in court, the former police officer was taken to Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) where a rapid antigen test for Covid-19 was conducted. He tested negative for the virus.

Dutta, who reportedly suffers from some heart ailment, was later taken to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) where some tests were conducted before he was sent to CID custody.

Dutta and a ruling BJP leader Diban Deka are prime accused in the police sub-inspector recruitment scam. The written exam to select 597 SIs was postponed last month after the question paper got leaked. Deka (who has since been expelled by the party) was arrested earlier and is in police custody.

Dutta and Deka are suspected to have fleeced many candidates for the exam for sub inspectors of police by assuring them jobs in lieu of cash. Deka is alleged to have procured the question paper ahead of the written test.

Police investigation has revealed that a day ahead of the test on September 20, many candidates had taken a mock exam in a Guwahati hotel. Nearly 70 of these candidates were staying at one of the five hotels Dutta owns in Guwahati.

Police had issued look out circulars for both Dutta and Deka and alerted income tax department, enforcement directorate and department of revenue intelligence after unearthing many properties belonging to the for IPS officer.

“We questioned Dutta for a bit after he was brought to Guwahati. The nexus of how the job recruitment scam would be revealed based on his further interrogation,” said Singh.