Congress petitions CBI to probe seven charges against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, family

They include shifting an elephant corridor of Kaziranga National Park to avoid eviction of a tea estate in his wife’s name

GUWAHATI

The Assam unit of the Congress on Monday petitioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking a probe into seven specific charges against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and others, including his wife.

The charges include shifting an animal corridor of Kaziranga National Park in order to avoid eviction of a tea estate in his wife’s name.

In a letter to CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) said during the recent inauguration of an international school on the outskirts of Guwahati, the Chief Minister’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma had publicly announced that Mr. Sarma was the school’s founder. Ms. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is the owner of the school, the APCC said.

“Being the head of the State of Assam, how can a Chief Minister run an international school?” the letter signed by APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah, AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh, MP Abdul Khaleque and others said.

The APCC alleged RBS Realtors, a firm renamed Vasistha Realtors, had transferred unaccounted money from Kolkata to many firms and companies belonging to the Assam Chief Minister’s family.

Ashok Dhanuka, involved in the Jharkhand MLA horse-trading case, is the all-time director of the firm, the APCC said while demanding a probe into the transactions done by the firm from Kolkata.