GUWAHATI: A day after he claimed Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi met a Pakistani Army official during his visit to the neighbouring country, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Jorhat MP had taken 90 boys and girls to the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi for “radicalisation.”
“Gaurav Gogoi went to Pakistan in a personal capacity. He was accompanied by his wife (Elizabeth Colburn, a British national). She returned to India after seven days but he stayed back for another seven-eight days,” Sarma said, addressing a press conference
He said the Congress leader had travelled by road via Attari, where a register is maintained. “We are in possession of all these things. We are trying to ascertain what he was doing in Pakistan when his wife was in India. We have to serve a notice to him,” Sarma stated.
He claimed that after this visit, Gogoi took 90 boys and girls to the Pakistani embassy for radicalisation. He said some of them gave statements saying they were not told they were being taken to the Pakistani embassy.
“This was followed by Gaurav Gogoi’s pro-Pakistan questions in Parliament,” the Assam chief minister said.
He also stated that Gogoi’s wife had travelled between India and Pakistan 19 times and that Pakistani Army personnel accompanied her there on two to three occasions.
“We are collecting passengers’ list. Agencies are helping us. We will get the documents,” Sarma said, adding, “She worked in Pakistan before. Later, she moved to Delhi and started working for an NGO but was drawing her salary from Pakistan.”
He said the government had clear evidence that she had a “good relationship” with Pakistan’s Army.
As for Gogoi, Sarma said the Congress MP would have to explain where in Pakistan he had spent his time. “We have to talk to him. We will definitely talk to him once copies of passport etc reach us,” he said.
“This is not a play on social media. We will be up front. Let Rahul Gandhi clarify whether an Indian, who is the son of a chief minister, visiting Pakistan and that too, without informing the Congress party, is a crime or not. We want to know the position of the Congress on this. I am going to meet (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge,” Sarma said.
Gogoi’s father Tarun Gogoi served as the Assam Chief Minister from 2001 to 2016. Gogoi junior has been serving as an MP since 2014.
Sarma said things he flagged were not charges but the conclusion (findings) of a probe conducted by a special investigation team of the Assam Police.
“We have sent a letter rogatory to bring passport, visa., etc. This goes through a process. Court order is also required. It will take about three months to get the documents,” he added.