Sunday, June 04, 2023

Assam SCERT scam: Two more RTI activists arrested

Northeast Now: Assam: Sunday, 04 June 2023
Two more RTI activists were arrested in connection with the Rs 105 crore-State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) scam in Assam.
The accused with identified as Benin Doley and Rajib Kakati.
As per reports, Benin Doley received a sum of Rs 5 lakh, while Rajib Kakati had received Rs 7 lakh transferred from the official SCERT bank account through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system.
It may be mentioned that the vigilance cell arrested them after hours of questioning.
Along with them, several others are expected to be arrested soon.
The list of suspects also includes senior journalists and leaders of certain political parties.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said that 12 more people including journalists and RTI activists are like to be arrested in connection with the Rs 105 crore-State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) scam in Assam.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma disclosed that up to 12 individuals are now under the radar of the Chief Ministers’ Special Vigilance Cell (CM’s SVC).
It may be mentioned that earlier on Tuesday four persons including two journalists and two RTI activists were arrested in connection with the scam.
As per sources, the two journalists were identified as Pujamoni Das and Bhaskar Jyoti Hazarika. The arrested RTI activists are Anup Saikia and Rabijit Gogoi.
They were accused of blackmailing suspended IAS officer Sewali Devi Sharma, the prime suspect in the case and gaining a huge sum of money from her.