Assam Police Raids Pawan Khera’s Residence in New Delhi, Claims to have Found “Incriminating Materials”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 7: An Assam police team is claimed to have found some “incriminating materials” at the New Delhi residence of the Congress leader and party spokesman Pawan Khera in connection with his allegations against the Assam chief minister Himant Biswa Sarma and his wife having her illegally holding three passports.
Speaking to media persons outside Mr Khera’s residence in Delhi, the Assam Police DCP Debojit Nath said Mr Khera was not found at his residence but the police carried out a search and electronic devices were seized. Some “incriminating material was found” he said but refused to divulge details “at this stage.” The case has been registered at the Crime Branch Police Station in Guwahati, the DCP said. The whereabouts of the Congress leader was currently unknown, but he would be traced, the DCP said.
The Assam Police team reached Mr Khera’s Delhi residence on Tuesday morning for questioning in connection with the case linked to allegations made by him against Mr Sarma and his family. The team formally informed Delhi Police upon arrival, following which a local police team joined and assisted in the proceedings, official sources said.
Mr Sarma on Monday had accused the Congress party of unleashing a “foreign-influenced misinformation campaign” against him and his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma ahead of the April 9 Assembly election. The “serious allegations” against his wife hurled by Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday had a Pakistan link, he also said.
Mr Sarma told journalists that his wife had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Crime Branch of the Assam Police against Mr Khera and others for claiming she possesses the passports of three countries, including two Islamic nations; owns a luxury property in Dubai; and has investments worth millions in Wyoming, United States.
Following the raid by the Assam police at Mr Khera’s residence, Mr Sarma said the Congress leader “ran away” to Hyderabad. “He ran away from Guwahati yesterday. I have come to know through the media that the police have gone to his residence in Delhi, but he has run away to Hyderabad. The law will take its own course,” he said.
Mr Khera had sought clarifications on Mr Sarma’s wife’s alleged foreign assets, prompting a complaint and subsequent police action. Soon after the Assam police raid, the Congress lashed out at Mr Sarma saying this was a “witch hunt” with a “bully” using State machinery to muzzle Opposition’s voice.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the deployment of a full army of police officials to arrest his colleague for asking basic questions in the public interest proves that the Assam CM was “disturbed, desperate, and rattled.”
“This is not due process but instead a witch hunt, a bully using state machinery to muzzle and silence the voice of the Opposition that is exposing his many black deeds. Those who intimidate are the ones who are afraid and have much to hide,” Mr Ramesh said on X. It also proves that the CM was facing imminent defeat, he added.
Mr Sarma also claimed that Mr Khera relied on “fraud and fabricated” documents accessed from a Pakistani social media group to target him via his wife. “During our research, we found that the entire material of yesterday’s (Sunday’s) press conference was supplied from a Pakistani social media group. In the last 10 days, (a) Pakistan channel did at least 11 talk shows on Assam elections, which never happened earlier. And in every talk show, the conclusion is that Congress should win,” Mr Sarma said. This, he said, indicated Pakistan was trying to influence voting on April 9.
The Chief Minister said Mr Khera and his team had “Photoshopped” the original passports and documents, and replaced them with the details of Ms Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. “They missed out details in the process, thus getting exposed,” he claimed. The Congress had timed the “baseless allegations” to vitiate the electoral atmosphere, he said.
“A simple Google reverse search with the passport number provides the exact details. Making allegations with fabricated documents to influence the result or outcome of an election attracts a higher penal provision, and the punishment for which is life imprisonment,” he said.
The Congress had revealed its true character by stooping low, he said. He could never imagine that former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son (Assam Congress president and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi) would go to such an extent to defame him, Mr Sarma said.
