GUWAHATI, Aug 11 - Altogether 14 persons have been arrested across the State for their alleged involvement in irregularities during recruitment of UB constables.
Replying to an issue raised by BJP MLA Ranjit Kumar Das in the Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rakibul Hussain said the recruitment process in the three districts of Dhubri, Nagaon and Barpeta was cancelled following complaints about alleged tampering in the process.
Hussain was speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who also holds the Home portfolio. He said among those arrested were one havildar-clerk in Barpeta and one constable in Hailakandi, besides five brokers in Nagaon district.
Besides, two persons each have been nabbed from Dhubri and Lakhimpur districts, while police have also taken into custody two women in Golaghat for attempting to influence the recruitment exercise. One person has also been arrested in Cachar district.
Hussain said that while the recruitment process in Dhubri, Nagaon and Barpeta was cancelled, the process was successfully completed in the other districts.
He said the cancellation of the recruitment process in the three districts was done as the home department was committed to ensuring a clean and transparent list of candidates.
�The home department is committed to ensuring best practices. Our aim is full transparency in recruitment. The recruitment process in the three districts will soon be taken up afresh,� he said.
Altogether 3,11,198 applications were received for filling up 6,748 posts of constables, for which a notification was first issued in November 2014.
Hussain said the government used information and communication technology and also videographed the tests. A State Level Police Recruitment Board (SLPRB) was formed consisting of senior officials and district level selection committees headed by SPs were formed to monitor the entire exercise.
The marks secured by the candidates were revealed to them the same day and the results were also uploaded to the official website.
�However, complaints about irregularities were received from the three districts,� he said, adding that investigation by senior officials confirmed the irregularities, following which the recruitment process in the three districts was cancelled.
�We want to send out a tough message that such practices will not be tolerated so that no unscrupulous elements dare attempt such things again in future,� Hussain said.
Earlier, raising the issue, BJP�s Das said that the irregularities had proved that the home department had failed to device a foolproof system for recruitment of personnel.
