Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 15 Feb: The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) on Thursday arrested former director of elementary education (DEE) Tapi Gao (63) in connection with the illegal appointment of primary teachers, postgraduate teachers, upper division clerks, and other staffers in the education department, particularly in Anjaw district.
Gao had reportedly been dodging SIC interrogation and was out on bail after being accused in the case of illegal appointments in Longding education department.
Reportedly, multiple cases have been registered over illegal appointments in the education department, allegedly made by Gao when he was the director.
In a press statement, SIC SP Anant Mittal informed that the SIC arrested Gao in connection with the cases on Thursday, following “detailed interrogation and technical analysis.”
It is learnt that the former DEE is one of the main accused in the illegal appointment scam. Earlier, the SIC had arrested Tirap DDSE Igo Doye in connection with the case. With Gao’s arrest, the total number of arrestees has gone up to nine.
The SIC had registered a regular case on 17 August, 2023, after the issue of illegal appointments was reported from Changlang district. It has registered a case [u/s 120 (B)/409/468/471 IPC, r/w Section 13 (2) of PC Act, 1988].
In Changlang district alone, more than 78 suspicious appointments were made. The appointees included trained graduate teachers, primary teachers, upper division clerks, lower division clerks, and multitasking staffers, from 2020-2022.
In November 2023, the education department had issued en masse termination letters to 255 illegal appointees.
