SIT report on Gaurav Gogoi and family's link with Pakistan ''damaging and damning'': Himanta

Guwahati, Oct 6 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the SIT report, probing into the alleged Pakistani links of state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and his family, is very ''damaging and damning''.

The report was discussed informally in the Cabinet meeting on Monday, and ''we will make it public later before journalists, including those from Delhi'', Sarma said at a press conference here.

It is a "very bad" report and should be shared with a larger crowd, the chief minister said.

''As he (Gogoi) is the deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, we want people all over the country to know about the report, and so we will invite mediapersons from Delhi so that they know his actual character,'' Sarma said.

He said that the report will be formally listed in the Cabinet soon.

"We could have done it today, but decided against it due to the prevailing situation in the state," Sarma said, alluding to the developments following the death of singer Zubeen Garg.

The CM said that the government will make the gist of the report public and not the entire report.

''There are many official secrets and statements of several people recorded in the report. We will, therefore, publish the gist and the documents annexed to the report, so that people can refer to it," Sarma said. The Assam Cabinet had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on February 17 to investigate the anti-India activities of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and his associates.

The SIT, led by Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta, formally submitted the report to the chief minister on September 10.

After receiving the report, the CM had said that the state government will examine it in detail and place it before the Cabinet for discussion before making it public.

Sarma had earlier claimed that the SIT has ''established the involvement of a British national - who is also married to an Indian Member of Parliament - in the larger nefarious activities of Pakistan national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh''.

The investigation also sheds light on how the Ministry of Interior, Govt of Pakistan, facilitated the visit of a Member of Parliament from Assam in their country, he had claimed.

Gogoi had earlier claimed that the allegations levelled by the CM are like a "C-grade Bollywood film", which is going to flop as the people of Assam understand everything. PTI DG NN