What happened
The Assam Public Service Commission exists to identify the best minds for the state's most important roles. In the 2020 Forest Service exam, that distinction went to Shivashish Sandilya — Rank 1. He was posted to Lakhimpur Range, where Assam's forests meet its sand mining and quarrying economy. In this role, he allegedly ran a simple system: ₹6,000 per vehicle per month, paid in cash at his official residence, granting trucks the right to move without incident. On May 1, an Anti-Corruption Bureau trap caught him mid-collection, accepting ₹12,000 from a dumper truck owner. A search of his home yielded ₹5.68 lakh in undocumented cash. A quarry operator later told reporters he had paid nearly ₹5 crore to forest officials over twenty-five years just to keep his machines running. Sandilya has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Case No. 07/2026. He presumably retains his Rank 1 certificate.