Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday launched a veiled attack on Gaurav Gogoi on the latter’s Pakistan links; however, he did not take the name of the Congress MP.
He said: “One Lok Sabha MP from Assam of the Congress party went to Pakistan and stayed there for 15 days without informing the Government of India. He also went to Nepal when the country was a hotbed for the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI. We will call the MP in the months of June or July, and we will seek answers from him regarding his visits.”
Sarma has also alleged that Gogoi’s wife drew a salary from Pakistan for three years while she was staying in Delhi.
“The wife of the Congress MP used to get a salary from Pakistan while she was living in Delhi. This continued for three years, and we confirmed it from the SIT investigation. Many colleagues of hers have confirmed this information,” he added.
Earlier, Sarma had claimed that the state would witness a political storm by the month of September this year due to Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s alleged Pakistan links.
“SIT has found many inputs regarding links of a number of Indian individuals with Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh. The SIT has also found multiple links of Ali Sheikh in India, and more revelations will come up in the next few days,” the Chief Minister said.
He also said that the SIT was asked to complete the investigation by September this year.
“By September, many more things will be revealed. I assure you that the state will witness a political storm,” he said.
Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh has been named in an FIR by the Assam Police for his alleged role in destabilising communal harmony, and it is alleged that Ali Tauqeer Sheikh had links with Gaurav Gogoi’s wife, Elizabeth Gogoi, and the Congress MP’s wife allegedly travelled to Pakistan on Ali Sheikh’s invitation.
The SIT team questioned two staffers at the British High Commission to retrieve information about their links with Ali Sheikh.
Ali Sheikh is under the lens for his purported role in seeking key information related to national security. The SIT team has also questioned an environmental scientist in the case.
Sarma had said SIT has made progress in its initial investigation.
He said, “The SIT has found significant evidence related to Ali Sheikh for his multiple visits to India and his controversial social media posts expressing immense interest in the politics of Assam. Sheikh visited India with a Pakistani delegation, including the Attorney General of that country.”
He said Ali Sheikh frequently visited India till 2018 and stayed in small hotels to avoid public attention.
“We have been probing the entire ecosystem related to Ali Sheikh. If required, we will take the help of Interpol. We have also briefed the Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the developments,” he said.
A four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the alleged Pakistani links of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and his wife, Elizabeth Gogoi.
(IANS)
