Citizenship being ‘sold’ for Rs 10,000 in Assam
Guwahati: In what may be a serious matter of concern for the ongoing process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NR-C) in Assam, two public servants engaged in the process of updating the NRC, were caught red- handed while accepting a bribe from a woman to enter her name unlawfully in the register.
Syed Shahjahan, a 48-year-old field level officer of NRC Sewa Kendra of Dispur at Ganes-hguri, was caught by sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Assam police on Thursday morning while he was accepting a bribe of `10,000 from complainant Kajari Ghosh Dutta of Ananda Nagar here.
Another person, Rahul Parasar (27), an assistant local registrar of citizen registration of the same NRC Sewa Kendra, was also found involved in the crime and has also been arrested, the police said.
“All connected documents have also been seized by the ACB team from the office of the NRC Sewa Kendra. The accused had highlighted some technical defects in her application and demanded the bribe to correct the defects and enter her name thereafter into the final draft of the NRC,” a police officer said.
The complainant had approached the ACB and a trap was laid down as per the standard procedure. “The accused have been arrested and will be forwarded to the special court tomorrow morning. Due procedures are being obser-ved,” the officer said.