Dispur: The spat between the BJP and Congress in Assam got uglier before the Assembly elections in the state, with chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma seeking a central agency probe against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi over his alleged links with Pakistan.
Sarma held a press conference on Sunday and spoke of a report submitted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The chief minister said that the allegations are serious in nature and must be probed by a central agency.
According to him, SIT report suggests that Gogoi’s wife shared confidential information with Pakistan, as reported by NDTV.
Gogoi snubbed Sarma’s press conference as “worse than C grade cinema.”
Sarma has always insisted that Gogoi’s British wife, Elizabeth Coleburn, had ties to Pakistan, especially the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), while she was working in Islamabad under Tauqeer Sheikh, a former adviser to the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
The government had formed an SIT to probe the allegations, and a case was registered based on its initial findings. After the SIT submitted its report to the state government, Sarma’s cabinet concluded it must be probed by a central agency in view of the sensitivity and wider implications of the case.
Sarma said that his government has decided to ask the Union home ministry to take over the Gogoi probe. The handover process will be initiated once the MHA gives its consent, he clarified, maintaining that the decision was taken in the interest of national security and transparency.
The chief minister justified a central probe, stressing that the Assam government has its own limitations of investigation.
“We believe there is a deeper connection between Elizabeth and Gaurav Gogoi and Pakistan that needs to be investigated,” Sarma said.
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4-page SIT report allegedly suggests that Gogoi’s wife shared confidential documents with Tauqeer Sheikh, the BJP leader said. The investigation revealed that the MP’s wife was being managed by Pakistan, he claimed, citing salary transactions from Lead Pakistan, a Pakistani firm.
Elizabeth had previously worked as an aide to former US senator Tom Udall and billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
The Assam CM also alleged that Gogoi’s wife used to take the Attari Border to enter Pakistan to maintain a low profile. The investigation has revealed that she travelled to Pakistan nine times since marrying Gogoi, he said.
Someone from the Gogoi family also helped the Pakistani firm with inputs and suggestions from time to time, he alleged.
During a 2013 Pakistan trip, Gogoi and his wife were allowed to visit only Lahore, but he was later permitted to visit Islamabad and Karachi as well, Sarma claimed and sought an explanation from Gogoi.
He also told reporters that Gogoi had allegedly surrendered his minor son’s passport at the Delhi passport office in 2022 so that he could get British citizenship.
“In his passport, it was mentioned that the child was a Hindu. But when he was issued a British passport, the religion column was left blank,” Sarma claimed, giving Gogoi 10 days to issue a clarification.
When asked whether the Congress leadership protected Gogoi despite being aware of his alleged Pak links, Sarma said the MP is close to the Gandhi family and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi must look into the matter and reply accordingly.
Gogoi, son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, branded Sarma’s press conference as “super flop” in an online post.
“I pity the journalists from Delhi and Assam who had to suffer the most flop press conference of the century. This was worse than a C grade cinema. Most mindless and bogus points offered by the so called political shrewd chief minister,” Gogoi, the Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha said.
“This #SuperFlop is in contrast to our #XomoyParivartanYatra which has been a hit in uncovering the 12,000 bighas of land occupied by the Chief Minister and his family members,” he added.