GUWAHATI, Nov 5 - Disgraced Chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), Rakesh Paul, who was arrested by Dibrugarh police yesterday in connection with a recruitment racket, was today sent to 14 days� judicial custody by a special court here.
Paul was produced before the court around 4.30 pm in the evening amid tight security.
Scores of activists, mostly members of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS), waved placards and raised slogans outside the court premises demanding exemplary punishment to the APSC chairman.
The KMSS and the Lawyers� Association, Guwahati filed separate petitions before the court opposing Paul�s bail and demanded maximum police custody.
�It is a massive racket of very serious nature which has destroyed the social fabric of the State. The police needs to be given sufficient time to investigate it so that the nexus can be unearthed,� advocate Bijon Mahajan, who appeared for the KMSS, said.
Last night, after arresting Paul from his office, Dibrugarh police searched his posh residence located at Shaktigarh in Bhangagarh here and that of his brother�s located at Kahilipara.
�We found two answer-scripts of an APSC examination from his residence. The answer-scripts were of the same question paper, but both purportedly bore the same handwriting,� Dibrugarh Additional Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh Panesar, who is leading the investigation team, told The Assam Tribune.
The ASP also said that investigations have revealed that Paul has also destroyed a mobile phone and a SIM though which he kept in touch with other accomplices of the racket.
Several empty cases of jewellery were also found from his Bhangagarh residence, indicating that the valuables might have been shifted to some other place before the raid.
Paul is likely to be kept in Guwahati and interrogated for some days before being taken to Dibrugarh.
