E-Paper
Sarma accuses Cong of using Pak-linked group’s docs to forge his wife’s passports
On Sunday, Congress alleged that Sarma’s wife has passports of the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda and owned property in Dubai
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday accused Congress of using documents from a social media group linked to Pakistan to forge alleged passports of three countries belonging to his wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.
On Sunday, Congress held two press conferences in Delhi and Guwahati, where the party’s media department head, Pawan Khera, and Assam unit chief, Gaurav Gogoi, alleged that Sarma’s wife has passports of the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda. They alleged she owns properties in Dubai (UAE) and has a company in Wyoming (US).
“There is a Pakistani angle to it as all the data which was used to fabricate the alleged passports was taken from a social media group called Pakistanis in Ajman [Facebook],” said Sarma. “In the past 10 days, news channels in Pakistan have done several talk shows on the election in our state. It shows that there is a conspiracy hatched in the neighbouring country to influence the results of the Assam election.”
He said in normal circumstances, it would have simply become a defamation case. Sarma added that such allegations made just ahead of the election can influence the outcome and are more serious, and can even lead to life imprisonment
On Sunday night, Sharma filed a case in Guwahati against Khera and others seeking action against their “fake allegations”.
Sarma refuted the Congress allegations against his family, registering a limited liability company (LLC) in Wyoming with ₹52,000 crore investment. “On Sunday night, we also registered a fake LLC in the same state with the names of Gaurav Gogoi and his wife. It can be done by anyone by paying just $199 [around ₹20,000]. This shows how easily those documents can be generated.”
Sarma said the Congress presented a document showing the minutes of a meeting of their alleged company in 2025. He added that the Wyoming government website shows the company was registered two days ago.
Sarma said the alleged UAE passport was forged from a lost document updated on the Facebook group. He added that the Egyptian passport was forged from a document belonging to a woman citizen of that country. Sarma said there were typographical errors in the forged Antigua and Barbuda passport.
“A simple reverse search of those documents presented shows that they are fake. The photos shown in the three alleged passports were doctored and can be clearly detected. Also, the documents shown to suggest that my wife has properties in Dubai are fake, as a scan of the QR code in those does not show anything,” said Sarma
He said the Union government has sought clarifications from authorities in the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda about their authenticity. “The government has informed us that no such documents exist in the UAE. The authorities of Antigua and Barbuda have stated that a preliminary look at the alleged passport indicates it to be a fake one. Response from Egyptian authorities is awaited,” said Sarma.
