Assam police on Wednesday transferred the suo motu case filed against Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders for “violation of laws” in Guwahati to the state CID.
The Congress has described the FIR lodged on Tuesday against leaders who are part of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as a “political FIR”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had on Tuesday night written to Union home minister Amit Shah about the “serious” security issues faced by Rahul and the Yatra in Assam over the last few days.
Assam police chief G.P. Singh on Wednesday wrote on X that the FIR was registered under various sections of the IPC and PDPP (Prevention of Damage to Public Property) Act and handed over to the CID for a “thorough and in-depth investigation” through an SIT to be constituted by the additional director-general of police.
Early in the day, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, had told reporters that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had lodged the FIR against Rahul, K.C. Venugopal, Jitendra Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupen Borah, Debabrata Saikia and other leaders, including him. He termed it a political FIR with no link to reality and added that they were not scared.
Ramesh asserted that the party would face any legal procedure without fear and the Yatra would continue.
“PM Modi goes around the world and says that India is the Mother of Democracy. But this is not Mother of Democracy but Murder of Democracy,” he said.
After a night halt in Dhubri on Wednesday, the Yatra will enter Bengal on Thursday.
The Assam Congress also hit out at Sarma by tweeting: “Thank you @himantabiswa Ji for helping us with publicity. BTW, it seems you yourself filed the FIR, such cowardice doesn’t suit you. And rather than wasting so much energy in disrupting the yatra, you could’ve done some real work. No wonder why Assam is spiralling down to the bottom in every aspect.”
Congress leaders and workers had on Tuesday forcibly removed barricades put up by the administration to prevent the Rahul-led Yatra from entering Guwahati as a “mark of protest”.
In his letter to Shah on Tuesday, Kharge said that the Congress had taken out the Yatra to “promote” the message of justice and harmony among the people of India.
“Unfortunately, since the Yatra has entered Assam on the 18th of January, 2024 there have been several instances where the Assam Police has been found wanting in providing adequate security that Shri. Rahul Gandhi who is entitled to as a Z+ security.”
Kharge cited instances of alleged police lapses, including how the cops were “found” protecting the posters of the BJP at Amguri in Sibsagar district “instead of ensuring safe passage for the Yatra” on January 18, the first day of the travel through Assam. On the second day, “miscreants associated with the BJP were caught defacing and taking down posters and hoardings” of the Yatra in Lakhimpur district, Kharge alleged.
He also mentioned the “outrageous attack” on the Yatra in Sonitpur district on January 21.
