Guwahati, April 6 (IANS): Assam Police have dismissed a former Superintendent of Police (SP) from service for “gross malpractice” and disqualified him from future employment, Director General of Police, G.P. Singh, said on Saturday.

Taking to X, Singh said, “In pursuance of the policy of zero tolerance towards malpractices in Assam Police, Raj Mohan Ray, the then Superintendent of Police of Darrang district, has been awarded the penalty of dismissal from service, which shall ordinarily be disqualification for future employment, on April 1 by Assam government.”

The decision came as a fallout of an incident that took place in 2022 in the Dhula area of the district involving the death of a minor domestic help and the subsequent attempts to cover up the case.

As a result, one executive magistrate, three senior police officers, and three doctors were arrested on suspicion of falsifying the inquiry.

Initially thought to be a case of suicide, the matter took a turn after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma intervened and ordered the formation of a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the case.

After taking over the case, the CID disclosed that the doctors, the magistrate, and some police officers were trying to protect the accused, an SSB jawan named Krishna Kamal Baruah, who was allegedly involved in the murder and rape of his 13-year-old domestic help.

Following the disclosures, the CID arrested three police officers -- Raj Mohan Ray, then SP of Darrang district, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rupam Phukan, and SI Utpal Bora, the officer-in-charge of the Dhula police station -- along with three doctors from the Mangaldai Civil Hospital, Arun Chandra Deka, Ajanta Bordoloi, and Anupam Sharma.

Ashirbad Hazarika, the Executive Magistrate of Dalgaon Revenue Circle, was also arrested.

The three police officers were later suspended from duty.