Pawan Khera Ran Away to Hyderabad: Himanta Sarma

Visibly upset over the charges of having property abroad on him and his wife, Mr Sarma told reporters, “Let him hide wherever he wishes too. Assam police will track down his whereabouts. You don’t know the Assam police. We are made of very different metals. Pawan Khera will have to tell who gave him this document. I doubt it was given to him by Rahul Gandhi so this case will go to his door step too.”

Earlier in the day, teams of Assam Police and Delhi Police reached Mr Khera’s residence in Delhi after an FIR was filed in connection with the passport row involving Mr Sarma’s wife. However, Mr Khera was not present at his home.

A four-member Assam Police team arrived at his Nizamuddin residence, with Delhi Police assisting the operation. Local police had been informed in advance. The team remained at the residence awaiting his return for questioning.

Mr Khera had claimed that documents suggested Mr Sarma’s wife, Ms Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, held multiple passports, raising questions over possible violations of Indian laws related to dual citizenship.

He also alleged that she held three foreign passports from the UAE, Egypt and Antigua and Barbuda, and also questioned property links in Dubai and assets connected to companies in Wyoming.

Mr Sarma said in a press conference on Monday that there is a Pakistani angle to the allegations levelled by Congress leaders, “as all the data which was used to fabricate the alleged passports was taken from a social media group called Pakistanis in Ajman [Facebook].”

“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,” Mr Sarma told reporters.