India
Assam Officer Detained for Corruption; Used Voice Mimic to Impersonate CM and Officials
GUWAHATI: An officer of the Assam Civil Service (ACS) has been arrested on charges of criminal misconduct after allegedly employing a mimicry artist who posed as senior political leaders and bureaucrats, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, during phone calls.
The Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell detained Debeswar Bora, the District Development Commissioner of Dhemaji, for allegedly abusing his official authority and accumulating unexplained assets. Dhemaji is located in the northeastern corner of Assam, sharing a border with Arunachal Pradesh.
A vigilance cell official said that the operation, carried out in both Dhemaji and Guwahati, followed a formal complaint. "We conducted operations at locations in Dhemaji and Guwahati as part of the investigation based on a complaint. We arrested him after searching his house in Dhemaji and interrogating him," the official said.
While the vigilance cell has not disclosed further specifics of the operation, sources from Dhemaji indicate that Bora, who belongs to the 1999 batch of the ACS, allegedly took money from individuals by promising them government jobs and contracts.
According to these accounts, Bora used a middleman skilled in imitating voices to deal with people seeking employment or contracts. This associate is said to have impersonated the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, and other senior officials over the phone, giving callers the false impression that Bora had the influence to secure such favors.
The scheme reportedly unraveled when the ACS officer attempted to use the same method with a local politician-businessman in the district, leading to the exposure of the alleged fraud.
The vigilance official stated that all dimensions of the officer's alleged misconduct toward multiple victims are currently under investigation.