After the CM’s Special Vigilance Cell said it had seized over Rs 92 lakh in cash and gold jewellery from a 2019 batch Assam Civil Services officer’s house, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said she had been under the scanner for allegedly extracting money to facilitate land transfer from Hindus to Muslims amidst government curbs on such actions.
On Monday, the vigilance cell conducted simultaneous raids in four locations allegedly linked to ACS officer Nupur Bora, including her residence in Guwahati and a house she rented in Barpeta. According to Vigilance Cell Superintendent of Police Rosie Kalita, Rs 92,50,400 in cash was allegedly found in the Guwahati residence and Barpeta house, along with gold jewellery. She stated that the officer has been taken into custody.
Bora (36), originally from Assam’s Golaghat district, has been a civil servant for six years. After her appointment in January 2019, she was posted as Assistant Commissioner in Karbi Anglong district. In June 2023, she was transferred and posted as Circle Officer in Barpeta district. She is currently posted as Circle Officer in Kamrup district’s Goroimari.
Addressing the raids, Chief Minister Sarma said that Bora had been under the scanner of the government because of land transfers in her jurisdiction during her tenure as Circle Officer in Muslim-majority Barpeta district.
“There is a lot of corruption happening in Assam’s minority-dominated revenue circles. We had been screening this officer for the past six months for transferring land belonging to Hindus to doubtful people. We have been observing her routine for six months now. While she was a circle officer in Barpeta, she was transferring Hindu’s lands to Muslims by taking money in return, and because of that, we are now taking stern action against her,” he alleged.
Last year, Sarma had announced that the state could make the District Collector’s consent necessary for the sale of land between Hindus and Muslims. Following this, in the absence of a laid-down policy, requests for such land transfers had been pending.
Last month, the Assam cabinet approved an SOP for inter-religious land transfers, which states that when a proposal for a land transfer is received by a sub-divisional magistrate, in the case of a land transfer proposal between people of two different religions, they will forward it to the DC’s office after carrying out the usual checks and verification. This will be followed by checks by the Special Branch of the Assam police to examine “coercion” or illegality; source of funds for the purchase; potential effect on “social cohesion”; and “national security” implications.
