The Assam Police and Vigilance and Anti-Corruption sleuths on Friday arrested an Executive Engineer and Head Assistant of Irrigation Department in Goalpara for taking a bribe of Rs 50,000, officials said.
A spokesman of Assam Police said that a complaint was received that Executive Engineer Akbar Ali had demanded Rs 80,000 as bribe from the complainant for allotting him work worth Rs 10 lakh for flood damage repairing work.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption for taking necessary legal action against the engineer.
Accordingly, a trap was laid by a team of the Directorate and Assam police and caught Ali red-handed along with Jagadish Rabha, Head Assistant of the Irrigation Department.
A case has been registered against both the accused.
Digital literacy, awareness programme launched in Assam
Aiming to create a safer online environment, Meta (formerly Facebook) in partnership with Assam Police on Friday launched a digital literacy and awareness programme for adolescents and youth in the state at Royal Global University here.
The programme, “We Think Digital”, would focus on digital safety best practices and would provide easy access to youths to digital literacy awareness sessions, training resources, knowledge repository including child and adult safety self-help material, safety videos, resources, and help guide.
With the launch of this programme, Meta aims to promote safe online behaviour by spreading awareness around increasing cyber crimes and to equip adolescents with tools and resources to tackle the online harm.
The training modules would focus on all aspects of cyber security and basics of digital literacy including browsing the internet, cyber bullying, sextortion, darknet services, trolling, identity theft among other issues.
Built on Meta’s “We Think Digital” initiative, this partnership aims to train around 10,000 youth from various schools and colleges in Assam.
Previously, Meta has also conducted similar training and awareness programmes in various schools and colleges across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh.
Guwahati Police Commissioner Harmeet Singh said: “To be safe, you need to think. social media is the new idiom of communication. We must navigate to stay safe. He encouraged students to use social media for the good parts and not give up on it altogether because of the bad side of it.”
“The support from Assam Police is always there for reporting any issue or cybercrimes,” the IPS officer said.
Assam government’s Information Technology Department Secretary Ghanshyam Dass said students should double check before sharing any information on social media platforms, be it with friends or any known or unknown person.
Meta’s “We Think Digital” outlines the digital citizen’s rights and responsibilities, encourages them to think critically about their digital behaviour and interactions, and get the most out of the online world.
Speaking on the collaboration, Satya Yadav, Head, Trust and Safety, Facebook India (Meta) said: “When it comes to young people, our platforms are designed to ensure responsible empowerment along with building age appropriate safeguards. We are constantly innovating technology to ensure that youth benefit from our platforms while they continue to feel safe.”
Assam Police has always been at the forefront of innovative and tech aided interventions to raise awareness on various aspects of cyber safety and security. Their creative campaigns, such as ‘The Think Campaign’ and ‘Don’t Be A Sharent’, have been widely acknowledged for being the first of their kind in the country.
