In the follow-up investigation into the Diphu treasury officer’s corruption case, cash amounting to Rs 5,56,100 was recovered from the chamber of treasury officer Amarendra Sarma from inside a locked drawer.
The stash was found during a search operation carried out by police in presence of the district magistrate and personnel from the directorate of accounts & treasuries, Assam here on Wednesday.
Also read: Assam: Diphu Treasury office sealed
On Monday last, the deputy commissioner of Karbi Anglong, Mukul Kumar Saikia lodged an FIR against the treasury officer and several staff members of the treasury office at Diphu for allegedly demanding and taking bribe from government employees and contractors and later the office was sealed.
Deputy commissioner Saikia in the FIR prayed the law and order authority to arrest treasury officer Sharma along with seven other staff members, namely Hemanjali Handique, Ujjal Kumar Tanti, Mangal Ram Deo, Abhishek Das, Lonima Rongchehonpi, Utpal Goswami and Bimal Basumatary.
On Wednesday, additional SP Indranil Baruah and magistrate Norsing Bey and Romen Chakraborty from the directorate of accounts & treasuries and Dispur-based senior FAO (PCCF) Sarat Teron carried out search inside every room of the treasury office.
The search was conducted in the morning and ended at around 3 pm.
During the search, cash amounting to Rs. 5,56,100 was found from a locked drawer inside the chamber of the treasury officer, Sarma.
After the search, additional DC Norsing Bey informed the media about the recovery of the cash.
“Our DC Mukul Kumar Saikia after discussing the matter with the SP, Karbi Anglong, Gaurav Upadhyay and personnel from the directorate of accounts & treasuries, Guwahati, the treasury office was opened for the investigation process. The law and order personnel, personnel from the directorate of accounts & treasuries, Guwahati and myself carried out the search inside the treasury office for any evidence and during the search, we recovered cash amount of Rs.5, 56,100 inside one of the drawers wrapped with polythene bag inside the chamber of treasury officer Amarendra Sarma.”
He also informed the directorate of accounts & treasuries is checking all files and pending bills in the treasury office. The functioning of the treasury office will be decided by the DC.
Additional SP (Headquarter) Indranil Barua said the search operation was carried as part of the investigation in the treasury office case.
He also said the treasury officer Sarma has not been found. “His Guwahati residence was raided but he was not found there,” said Barua.