Assam's jails are clogged with life convicts

More than half the convicts lodged in jails across Assam are undergoing life imprisonment.

This was revealed by the latest prison statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau recently, which states that the percentage of convicts serving life sentence in the state was 59.7 in 2011. The report added that this was more than the national average — 53.6 per cent.

Besides Assam, the other two northeastern states where the share of convicts serving life sentences is more than the national average are Manipur (62.5 per cent) and Tripura (55 per cent).

In Assam, out of a total of 1,874 convicts serving life sentences, 60 are women, while in Manipur out of 20 such convicts, one is a woman and in Tripura out of 313 such convicts, nine are women.

Rigorous imprisonment for internal auditor

The court of special judge, Assam, M. Mazed Ali, today sentenced Manoj Saikia, an internal auditor at the office of sub-divisional planning officer in Golaghat district, to rigorous imprisonment for three-and-a-half-years in a corruption case.

The court found Saikia guilty under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Saikia. He will have to undergo imprisonment for further six months in the event of failure to pay fine.

Saikia was allegedly caught by the project director of district rural development agency (DRDA), B.C. Phukan, while taking bribe from secretaries of five gaon panchayats under the Gomariguri development block in Golaghat district on August 25, 2008.

A case was registered against him at Merapani police station.

Saikia had allegedly taken Rs 2,000 each from the gaon panchayat secretaries.