Guwahati:
A senior official of the Assam government officer allegedly used mimicry artists to imitate the voices of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and other senior officials to convince people that he had direct access to the top levels of government.
The accused, Debeswar Sharma, has been arrested by the Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell in an alleged multi-crore cheating and corruption case. Its senior officer Rosy Kalita told NDTV the matter was reported by a businessman who approached the agency on May 30, alleging that he had been cheated of Rs 10 lakh on the promise of a government contract.
He told the investigators that Debeswar Sharma had demanded Rs 10 lakh for the contract and later demanded another Rs 40 lakh. “When the businessman became suspicious, he refused to pay more and asked for a refund of his Rs 10 lakh,” Kalita said.
Investigators checked the bank account into which money had been deposited and found that it was allegedly linked to a business house in Arunachal Pradesh.
The owners of two firms, KK Enterprise and DB Enterprise, allegedly told investigators that they too had been cheated of around Rs 2.5 crore on promises of government contracts.
The probe finally uncovered the alleged mimicry operation.
“He would make calls in front of them – purportedly to senior government functionaries. From the other end, a mimicry artist or members of his team replied,” Kalita said. The victims allegedly believed they were hearing senior officials and were assured that their work will be done.
“The victims were convinced. They thought he was actually contacting senior government functionaries,” she said.
The Vigilance Cell has recovered around 18 SIM cards during the investigation. Only one of the nine SIM cards recovered from the accused was registered in his name.
“These SIM cards were brought from several third parties so he could misuse his official position and avoid detection,” Kalita said. The alleged impersonation of the Chief Minister has also triggered a serious legal angle. “Impersonating a Chief Minister is a very dangerous crime,” she said.
“We recovered several incriminating documents. I cannot divulge the details now because the investigation is ongoing,” Kalita said.
The alleged financial transactions are now being examined with the help of chartered accountants. Investigators are still calculating the total amount allegedly involved.
“It is a very large amount. It has gone beyond crores. We are calculating everything,” Kalita said.
The accused was arrested in Dhemaji, produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate and brought to Guwahati on transit remand. He was later produced before court and taken into four days of police custody. Simultaneous searches were carried out at his residences in Dhemaji and Guwahati and at his office in Dhemaji. Several documents were recovered.
“We have arrested only the prime accused, that is Debeswar Sharma, and we will do everything possible,” Kalita said. The Vigilance Cell said it has also received complaints from outside Assam.
“There were several calls from other states as well. They say they will be coming with all the documents,” Kalita said. The investigation is now focused on the money trail, the multiple SIM cards and the wider network behind the alleged mimicry operation.
