ITANAGAR, 30 Oct: Welcoming the CBI investigation into the APPSC paper leak case, the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) on Sunday stressed on “broadening the scope of investigation, so that the other exams conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in recent times could also be investigated for any wrongdoings.”
In a press release, the party said it is of the strong belief that “there is every possibility of previous exams conducted by the commission being severely compromised and also direct involvement of people in the higher echelons of the bureaucracy and the government.”
Stating that the press briefing convened by the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) “has only created new doubts and confusion among the aspirants and the general populace,” the PPA said: “When Gyamar Padang, the whistleblower in this instant case, brought the matter of paper leakage before the commission and the police authorities on 28 August, 2022, he was initially snubbed and his complaints were dismissed, despite the evidence presented by him.
“Complaint was registered later on, only after backlash and pressure from the public,” it said.
“There was similar instance of paper leakage in the APPSCCE, 2014, but after a hushed-up investigation, followed by a magisterial inquiry, the matter was closed as public outrage subsided. The facts of this case were never made public and the officials who were suspended then were reinstated in their respective positions,” it said.
Urging the chief minister’s office to “tread seriously on the matter,” the PPA said that “all the demands made by the aspirants, including for simultaneous ED and judicial investigation, endorsement of conducting further exams to the UPSC till completion of the current investigation, etc, should be fulfilled without any delay,” it said.
The party further alleged that “the manner in which this issue has been handled by the state government from the very beginning till the present day only points to a much larger conspiracy, whereby direct involvement of persons sitting in the highest offices of the state cannot be ruled out.”
“Also, on 22 September, 2022, the aspirants during a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club made claims of being in possession of two more audio clips in which the accused had directly named the chief minister. Has the chief minister been questioned by the police or the SIC? If not, why? This is very serious and needs to be looked into and investigated without any further delays,” the party said, and demanded that the CBI look into all claims made by the aspirants “and investigate all facets of the matter.”
