The chief of Assam government's Directorate of Information and Public Relations was today arrested for alleged irregularities in putting up publicity hoardings of government schemes during the Congress tenure.
"We have arrested DIPR Director Ranjit Gogoi and produced him before the court. It has given us three days remand," Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell In-Charge Jyotirmoy Chakravarty told PTI.
He said if needed they will seek an extension of the remand for further investigation in the Rs 32-crore scam.
Sources in the Vigilance Cell said more arrests may take place in the coming days.
Police recently filed an FIR naming Gogoi and a few businessmen along with their firms for alleged corruption in putting up the hoardings across all districts for 'Vision Assam Mission Assam' scheme, just before the Assembly polls in 2016.
"In total, there are five names in the FIR, which is just the beginning of the investigation. More names can also crop up during the course of the probe," Chakravarty said.
When asked if rest of the persons named in the FIR will be arrested, he said, "We will definitely take action in due course of time... The initial estimate of the scam was Rs 32 crore. Out of that, payments to the tune of Rs 30 crore have been made."
It was alleged that hoardings were not placed and the payments were made to the parties without proper inspection.
Allegations have also been levelled against the erstwhile Congress government, which had appointed Gogoi as the Director of DIPR.
During the entire course of investigation since the controversy broke out, names of some senior bureaucrats also came up.
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