Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday described a Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on alleged links between Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and Pakistan as “damaging and damning,” saying it points to a conspiracy that threatens national sovereignty.
The state cabinet took up the findings informally on Oct. 6, nearly four weeks after the government received the sealed dossier on Sept. 10. The SIT, constituted on Feb. 17 to probe Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and his associates for suspected anti-India activities, zeroed in on claims that Sheikh had cultivated contacts with Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, the British-born wife of the Kaliabor parliamentarian.
“It is a very damning and damaging report,” Sarma told reporters, adding that portions remain classified under the Official Secrets Act.
According to the chief minister, the inquiry uncovered what he termed “startling facts,” including facilitation by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior for the Assam MP’s travel and the alleged role of a foreign national married to an elected Indian lawmaker.
Gogoi, deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, dismissed the accusations as a political ploy. He confirmed visiting Pakistan in 2013 while his wife consulted on a climate-change project but insisted he never met government functionaries or intelligence operatives.
Sarma said a press conference with national media will be convened shortly to release a synopsis and selected annexures. The full cabinet is expected to deliberate on the report later this week, ending a delay triggered by parallel investigations into the death of popular singer Zubeen Garg.