Himanta's allegations on Gaurav baseless, CM lost mental balance: Congress
Guwahati (PTI): The opposition Congress on Sunday slammed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over what it called baseless claims about Gaurav Gogoi's alleged Pakistan links and said the CM appears to have "lost his mental balance".
A battery of national and state leaders of the Congress defended Gogoi and said Sarma had "diminished" the dignity of the CM's office, and that police could not even file an FIR against the Assam Congress chief due to lack of "any evidence at all".
Earlier during the day, Sarma, in a press conference, alleged that Gogoi, his British wife Elizabeth Colburn and Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh had a "deeper connection", and that information from the Intelligence Bureau was secretly passed on to the neighbouring nation.
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"The CM appeared to have lost his mental balance and had no documentary evidence to support his claims. Politics is one thing, but making baseless allegations against a respected family at a personal level is extremely reprehensible," All India Congress Committee General Secretary (in-charge of Assam) Jitendra Singh said.
Everyone in Assam knows the contribution of former CM Tarun Gogoi to Sarma's political rise, he added.
"After betraying Tarun Gogoi for power, the CM has now been levelling serial allegations against Gogoi for the past year. The Gogoi family treated Himanta with dignity, made him an MLA and a minister. The smear campaign he is now running against the family of a father figure is deeply unfortunate," Singh said.
He further stated that despite forming an SIT and continuing its proceedings, the state government has been misleading the people of Assam through press conferences.
Assam Police on February 17, 2025, had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe a case against the Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh for his social media comments on Assam and India's internal affairs.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, described the SIT report and Sarma's presser as a "flop show" and said the CM had lowered the dignity of his own office.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora also termed Sarma's press conference a "super flop" and said his earlier comments on the SIT had been proven correct.
"I had said the SIT has no authority to investigate such matters. Today, the CM himself admitted that the SIT formed by the Assam government could investigate only about 20 per cent of the alleged Pakistan link due to limitations. By accepting his own incompetence, Sarma has now pushed the matter to the central government," he added.
The senior Congress leader further questioned why, if the issue pertained to national security, the CM remained silent for six months after receiving the report.
"If Gogoi had travelled to Pakistan in 2013, and if the matter was so serious, why did neither the Modi government nor the investigating agencies act after 2014? Did it take 12 years to realise this?" he asked, adding that no one could be branded a 'Pakistani agent' without conclusive findings.
Taking a dig, Bora said Sarma had imagined detonating an 'atom bomb' against Gogoi, but what emerged was not even a 'chocolate bomb'.
"Despite having an SIT, they neither filed an FIR nor a chargesheet simply because there was no evidence. In the coming days, we will address the issue in detail in a separate press conference," he added.
Congress’ media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, slammed Sarma for his allegations against Gogoi.
Khera alleged that Sarma occupied land, plots, and shops for five years, and as soon as elections approached, he started talking about Muslims, Miyan, and Pakistan. He said such baseless allegations by Sarma show that he has lost his mental balance.
All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba, reacting to the SIT report, accused Sarma of attempting to mislead the people of Assam with false narratives, stating that the public would deliver the appropriate verdict.
Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur said the people of Assam have been fed up with Sarma's theatrics.
APCC media and communications department chairman Bedabrat Bora termed the six-month delayed SIT press conference an "anti-climax", stating that the dignity of the CM's office has been severely undermined before the national media.
Calling Gogoi a "key player" in the anti-India network and his wife a Pakistani "agent", Sarma on Sunday left it to the "people's court" to decide the Congress leader's activities against the country.
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Man chased, brutally stabbed inside public toilet in northwest Delhi; one arrested; juvenile held
New Delhi (PTI): An alleged road rage incident took a fatal turn when a 27-year-old factory worker was chased down by assailants and stabbed multiple times inside a public toilet in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar area, police said on Thursday.
According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday night, when witnesses saw the victim, Santosh Kumar, running into a public toilet in a desperate bid to save his life, with his attackers hot on his heels.
"A PCR call was received at 6:23 pm on April 8 regarding a man being stabbed inside the compound of a Sulabh Sauchalaya located at the fish market in Wazirpur Industrial Area," a senior police officer said.
A police team rushed to the spot and found the victim lying in a pool of blood inside the toilet premises. The victim, originally from Nepal, was residing in Macchi Market area, the official said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the incident stemmed from an altercation between the victim and a motorcycle rider. The verbal spat soon escalated into a physical scuffle, during which the accused, along with an associate, allegedly attacked Santosh with a knife.
Police sources said in a desperate attempt to save himself, the injured victim ran towards the nearby public toilet and tried to latch the door from inside. Eyewitness accounts suggest he tried to take refuge inside the public toilet and shut the door to prevent his attackers from entering. However, he was chased down, overpowered, and stabbed multiple times.
Santosh collapsed on the spot, where he later succumbed to his injuries, police said.
A case under sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (common intentions) was registered at Ashok Vihar police station and an investigation was taken up.
During the probe, police arrested one accused identified as Tanish (19), a resident of CSA Colony in Macchi Market area, and apprehended a juvenile allegedly involved in the incident.
Police said the motorcycle used by the accused, which they had abandoned while fleeing after the attack, was recovered near the crime scene.
Family members and acquaintances of the deceased expressed shock over the killing. Santosh's uncle, who reached the spot after being informed, recounted the scene.
"When I came here, I saw him lying on the floor, dead. I noticed that he had been stabbed twice. I am not aware of what exactly happened. He was just 27 years old and used to work in a steel company with me. I don't know how many people were involved in the attack. We are from Nepal, and I have been working here for 15 years. I think he was stabbed outside and later came inside the toilet to save himself. There was a bike outside which I think belonged to the attackers," he said.
Police said the motive behind the crime appears to be road rage -- a sudden and heated altercation on the road that spiralled into a violent assault resulting in the victim's death.
Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend any other persons involved in the attack. Police teams are analysing CCTV footage from the surrounding area and examining local witnesses to piece together the sequence of events.
