Assam home guard who refused bribe from drug dealers to be made constable

State Cabinet approved Borsing Bey’s appointment a week after he helped police recover methamphetamine worth ₹12 crore.

Assam home guard Borsing Bey had played a key role in intercepting a truck coming from Manipur and recovering high-grade crystal methamphetamine worth ₹12 crore.

An Assam home guard who refused to take bribe from drug dealers and helped the police recover high-grade crystal methamphetamine worth ₹12 crore would be appointed as a constable.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma Cabinet on June 24 decided to appoint Borsing Bey as a constable in the Assam police.

“Glad that home guard Bey will be appointed as a constable as a reward for the integrity he displayed by refusing bribe,” State Director-General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said.

The State police chief had rewarded Mr. Bey, who is attached to Dillai police station in Karbi Anglong district, with a cheque of ₹1 lakh after he helped seize three kg of methamphetamine on June 21.

The home guard had played a key role in intercepting a truck coming from Manipur and recovering the methamphetamine tablets. Two women from Tamil Nadu and a man from Manipur, arrested later, had offered him a “huge bribe” for letting them go.

A home guard, serving as an auxiliary to the police, gets paid a nominal amount. In Assam, a home guard’s tenure is extended every six months depending on certain criteria.

Land rate for oil companies

The Cabinet also approved the rate of acquisition of private land by oil majors such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Limited.

Accordingly, an oil company will now have to pay a minimum of ₹ 12 lakh per bigha for land acquisition within 10 km radius of an urban area. The rate will be a minimum of ₹ 10 lakh per bigha beyond the 10 km radius.

A bigha in Assam equals 2,880 square feet.

As a part of administrative reform, the Cabinet empowered the deputy commissioners to allot land for government institutions in rural areas on the basis of recommendations of the district-wise land acquisition committees.

The district heads will not have to forward the file to the Revenue Department.

A similar step has been taken for compensation to the families of the victims of man-elephant conflicts. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest has been empowered to take a decision according to the recommendation of a Divisional Forest Officer without forwarding the file to the Forest and Environment Department.