A police officer mentioned that Potom, an IAS officer, surrendered on the Nirjuli police station in Itanagar on Monday and was then arrested beneath varied sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, together with these associated to abetment to suicide and legal misconduct.
The FIR towards the accused officer additionally invokes provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Management) Act, 2017.
Potom was produced earlier than the Judicial Justice of the Peace First Class (JMFC) courtroom at Yupia in Papum Pare district, which remanded him to 14 days' judicial custody.
Relations of late Gomchu Yekar, together with a number of social activists, staged a protest outdoors the Yupia courtroom as Potom was being taken to Jully Central Jail in a police car.
The senior officer had been absconding after Gomchu Yekar, a 19-year-old Multi-Tasking Employees (MTS) of the PWD and Rural Works Division (RWD), and Government Engineer Likwang Lowang individually died by suicide on October 23. The relations of Yekar later claimed that a number of suicide notes have been recovered, by which he made critical allegations towards each officers. Within the notes, Yekar alleged that he had been sexually exploited and harassed over a chronic interval and claimed that persistent humiliation, coercion and threats had pushed him to take the acute step.One of many notes reportedly talked about that he had contracted HIV and accused one of many officers of abandoning and blackmailing him. Yekar additionally claimed he had been promised Rs 1 crore as monetary compensation, which was later denied. He wrote: “If I die, it will likely be due to him (Potom). Please give me justice.”
The grievance additionally requested that the suicide notes be handled as dying declarations, preserved as main proof and despatched for forensic and handwriting evaluation. The FIR additional alleged that Yekar was coerced into unlawful actions, repeatedly humiliated and later deserted.
The Arunachal Pradesh Police has constituted a Particular Investigation Group (SIT) led by Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Kengo Dirchi to research the dual suicide instances.
