Guwahati, June 3
Assam education minister and a spokesman for the state government Ripun Bora was today arrested by sleuths of the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) at Anandlok area in New Delhi on the charge of trying to bribe the CBI investigating officer with Rs 10 lakh. Official sources here informed that the CBI directorate had already informed the Assam Chief Minister’s office here about the arrest of the senior Cabinet minister for trying to bribe the CBI officer on duty. The officials in the State Education Department, however, are keeping mum over the development.
A spokesman for the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), Mehdi Alam Bora, said the committee came to know about the incident of arrest of the minister and was awaiting the details.
The CBI also arrested journalist Mukul Pathak, who works for a local vernacular daily here and was with the minister in New Delhi.
The CBI was investigating into a case of murder of one Daniel Toppo against the minister. The murder took place on September 27, 2000. Toppo, a leader from the tea tribal community and the president of the unit of influential Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), hails from the same district of education minister, who was then a Congress leader and aspirant for party ticket from Gohpur Legislative constituency in Assam to contest 2001 Assembly polls. Toppo was also being wooed by a section of the Congress party to contest election from the same constituency.
He was murdered near Gohpur town by unidentified miscreants while he was returning home. His family later alleged hands of Bora behind the murder and registered a case, which was later handed over to the CBI by the Assam police.
Main accused of the case, Umakanta Mizar alias Kale Mizar, has remained untraced since the murder incident. He was suspected to be either involved in the murder or had knowledge about the assailants.
