E-Paper
Assam Cong President blames BJP for illegal mining, drug trafficking in NE region
Gaurav Gogoi, was on Monday appointed as the new president of the Assam unit, replacing Bhupen Kumar Borah
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its regional allies for illegal coal mining and rampant drug trafficking in North East India.
“Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji addressed the Rising North-East summit in Delhi, where he talked about various schemes and initiatives. But his words are far away from the ground reality. In the north-east, the actual situation is very critical. Under BJP rule, the region has become a hub for illegal coal mining and narcotics trafficking”, said Gogoi, the president of the Congress Assam unit.
Gogoi referred to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) April 25 press note highlighting the existence of an illegal coal syndicate in Assam and Meghalaya.
“According to the ED, investigations into this syndicate had resulted in the seizure of ₹1.5 crore in cash, alongside various laptops and diaries”, Gogoi said.
Also Read: AICC appoints Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi as Assam Congress chief
Gogoi said that initially the Congress had welcomed the investigations, since “this exposed the lies of the Chief Minister of Assam, who has always said that there was no illegal coal mining. But when there was no further investigation, no arrests were made, no Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed, we became suspicious of the ED also.”
The Congress leader claimed that the actual purpose of the raids might have been to seize the cash on behalf of the BJP, rather than to shut down the syndicate.
Gogoi went on to point out the drug trafficking issue in Mizoram and Meghalaya.
“In Mizoram, the minister of excise and narcotics has said that there has been an increase in drug smuggling into Mizoram… 458 people have been arrested. The government reports an increasing number of arrests as proof of its performance, but if these arrests were to act as a deterrent, the volume of drugs seized would decline. But this is not occurring… In Meghalaya, cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh stated that there are 300,000 addicts – this is 10% of the population! Amongst the youth, the prevalence rate is 30%”, he said.
