APSC member Samedur Rahman arrested in Assam

Assam Public Service Commission member Samedur Rahman was arrested today from Rangia near Guwahati on alleged charges of corruption in the organisation as the state government has formed a Special Supervisory Team (SST) to monitor the ongoing probe.

On Nov 7, the state government had formed a Special Supervisory Team (SST) to monitor the ongoing probe into alleged corruption in Assam Public Service Commission by its beleaguered Chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul.

Police said Rahman who was declared an 'absconder', was apprehended from his house in Rangia around 1 am and taken to Guwahati for interrogation.

Police from neighbouring Baksa district, where he was reportedly in hiding, surrounded Rahman's house in Rangia acting on a tip-off. They informed police in Guwahati and the special investigating police team from Dibrugarh which earlier arrested APSC Chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul on November 4, police said.
 

Rahman was brought to Guwahati for interrogation to the 4th Assam Police Battalion (APBN) in Kahilipara where the APSC Chairman was also being questioned, the sources said.

Rahman's name came to light in connection with the cash-for-job scam when his personal security officer Mabud Ali Choudhury was arrested, based on arrested Dibrugarh Town Planning engineer Naba Kanta Patir's statement.

According to Investigating Officer Dibrugarh district, Additional Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Paneshar, on October 27, Patir was arrested on a complaint filed by a dental surgeon that he had promised to give her a job through the APSC for a bribe of Rs ten lakh.

Based on Patir's statement during interrogation, Samedur Rahman's personal security officer Mabud Ali Choudhury was arrested the next day, Paneshar said.

Interrogation of Patir and Rahman and phone conversations about money transactions between Patir and the APSC Chairman, revealed strong evidences about a big racket involving Rakesh Paul and Rahman, the police official said.

Paul,who was picked up from his office before his arrest, was being currently interrogated at the 4th APBN and he is stated to have disclosed the names of politicians, government officials, film personnel involved in the APSC recruitment racket.