Page No.# 1/4 GAHC010055432026 2026:GAU-AS:6687 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : AB/576/2026 KAMAL SAIKIA SON OF LATE NAGEN SAIKIA RESIDENT OF NAGEN SAIKIA RESIDENT OF NATUN NIRMALI GAON, P.S. AND DIST. DIBRUGARH, ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM REPRESENTED BY THE PP, ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. R S MISHRA, MS. M DEY,MS B SARMA Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, BEFORE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE MITALI THAKURIA O R D E R Date : 14.05.2026. Heard Mr. A.K. Gupta, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. R.S. Mishra, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. B. Sarma, the learned Addl. P.P., Assam appearing on behalf of the State respondent. This is an application under Section 482 of BNSS, 2023 praying for grant of pre- arrest bail to the accused/petitioner, namely, Sri Kamal Saikia, who is Page No.# 2/4 apprehending arrest in connection with the Dibrugarh P.S. Case No. 40/2026, registered under Section 316(5) of the BNS, 2023. The case diary is received and perused the same. It is submitted by Mr. Gupta, the learned counsel that the present accused petitioner is innocent and has not committed any offence as alleged against him in the FIR. However, it is a fact that some fraud have been committed by one of the co-accused, namely, Nayan Jyoti Das, Sewak who was acquainted with the computer works and the petitioner sometimes took help from said Nayan Jyoti Das to do some official works. Taking the advantage of sharing his e-mail I/D with said co-accused Nayan Jyoti Das, he committed some fraud in the institution for which he also lodged a complaint before the SP, Dibrugarh. But thereafter he was put under suspension in the year 2024 and subsequently he was reinstated and he is still working in the Department in another District. The accused petitioner, however is still ready and willing to extend his cooperation and also ready to provide all the documentary evidence, if required for further investigation of the case, if he is provided with the privilege of pre-arrest bail. Mr. Sarma, learned Addl. P.P., Assam submitted in this regard that the present accused petitioner is the main culprit of the entire criminal frauds which have been committed in the post office. He further submitted that at the relevant time of incident, the accused petitioner was working as a Sub-Post Master in the Dibrugarh Branch, when it has come to the knowledge of the Post Master during inquiry that the fraud is committed and there were fraudulent transactions in as many as 21 numbers of account by using the e-mail I/D of the petitioner. Mr. Sarma further submitted that the modus operandi was that they used to target Page No.# 3/4 some accounts which were not used by the account holders for long and they also used to withdraw money from those accounts which were subsequently misused and thus the entire fraud was committed. He further submitted that the detail inquiry report, submitted by the post master reveals that the accused persons used to withdraw the amount which were not shown in the system, though the deposited money was shown to be deposited in the accounts of the account holders but the money that were withdrawn was not shown in the system and thus, they used to target those accounts and more than 21 numbers of accounts have been used fraudulently by using the e-mail I/D of the present accused petitioner. Mr. Sarma accordingly submitted that the custodial interrogation of the present accused petitioner is very much essential for the interest of the investigation and two/three numbers of co-accused are still evading arrest and unless and until the petitioner is interrogated by the police, there cannot be any logical conclusion, for which the custodial interrogation of the present accused petitioner will be necessary. Accordingly he prayed for rejection of the present bail prayer. Hearing the submissions made by learned counsel for both sides, I have also perused the case diary and the materials available before me including the note of the I.O. It is found that there are sufficient incriminating materials against the present accused petitioner who was working as a Sub-Post Master at the relevant point of time and it is also found from the inquiry report wherein detail has been mentioned about the account holders with their names and the statements of some of the witnesses as to how their accounts have been misused by the accused/petitioner with connivance of other officials of the Post Office. The Page No.# 4/4 Inspector of Post Officer also during his preliminary inquiry submitted the detail report before the Superintendent of Post Offices, Dibrugarh Division as to how the entire frauds have been committed by forging the signatures of the account holders and by using the e-mail I/D of the present accused petitioner for withdrawing the money from the post office. Some of the victims have also made their statement as to how they were subjected to fraud and how the money deposited in their account were withdrawn with the conspiracy with the Post Office Officials. The case is still under investigation and except one Nayan Jyoti Das, the other accused persons who are named in the FIR is yet to be booked in connection with the case and their custodial interrogation will be necessary to unearth some more facts about the case and also to know the modus operandi of the case as to how they committed the entire fraud in the post office. So considering the nature and gravity of the offence and also considering the fact that the custodial interrogation of the present accused petitioner will be necessary for the purpose of investigation, wherein the fraud has been committed by the officials of the Post Office in connivance with the present accused petitioner. In view of the above, it is found that it is not a fit case to extent the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the present accused petitioner and the same is accordingly rejected. JUDGE Comparing Assistant