Case registered on Cong complaint over controversial video: Assam CM

Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the police have registered a case based on a complaint by Congress leaders over a controversial video featuring him, which was uploaded and later deleted by the state BJP.

Sarma said that a BJP worker has also filed a separate police complaint over the same issue.

The now-deleted video showed Sarma purportedly taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two people, one wearing a skull cap and the other with a beard, with "point-blank shot" as the caption.

The AI-generated video was uploaded on the state BJP's official X handle on Saturday evening, before being deleted following a political backlash.

"The Congress had filed a case and it has been registered," Sarma said at a press conference here.

Congress MLAs Sibamoni Bora and Diganta Barman had filed the complaint against the state BJP at Dispur police station here on Tuesday.

"In fact, one of our BJP men has also registered a case over it," Sarma claimed.

He asserted that the BJP as a party and he, as a human being, do not support anything that goes against the Assamese Muslim community.

"We are not against Assamese Muslims but against Bangladeshi Muslims, Miya Muslims. That photograph (in the video) should have made the difference (clear) between Bangladeshi and Indian Muslims," Sarma asserted.

Sarma had on Monday claimed that he was not aware of the video, while state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi accused the CM of "inciting genocide" against Muslims through his videos and urged the police to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had on Monday lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad Police, seeking criminal action against the Assam CM over the now-deleted video.

Sarma had said, "If any case has been filed against me, arrest me. I don't have any objection. I will be prepared to go to jail. I will always stick to my words. I am opposed to Bangladeshi infiltrators and will always remain so."