'Conspiracy to silence Opposition’: Pawan Khera levels fresh offshore asset claims against Assam CM’s wife

Guwahati: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday levelled a fresh set of allegations against the family of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, intensifying the political confrontation ahead of the Assembly elections.

Khera termed the recent police action at his Delhi residence a “conspiracy to silence the Opposition” and said such measures would not deter him. He called for an impartial investigation into alleged overseas assets in the United States, the United Kingdom and Dubai, as well as claims relating to the citizenship status of the Chief Minister’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma.

In a post on social media, Khera alleged that a team of nearly 100 Assam Police personnel conducted a search at his Delhi residence in his absence and seized electronic devices, including a laptop, an iPad and an old mobile phone belonging to his late sister. He said the action was aimed at targeting him for raising questions against the government.

The Congress leader also criticised remarks made by the Chief Minister against the Congress president, and said he would continue to raise issues despite “threats”.

Khera claimed that records from the U.S. state of Wyoming show Riniki Bhuyan Sarma as a director of a company named Bhuyan Properties LLC, and alleged that the documents list her nationality as that of Antigua and Barbuda. He further alleged the existence of business entities linked to the family in London, Utah, Dubai and Bangladesh, and questioned whether she held “golden visas” in Egypt and Dubai.

He also referred to the Chief Minister’s brother, a serving police officer, alleging that his family resides in Dubai and that his child studies at an international school there. Khera said the Opposition had a responsibility to question whether public funds were being misused.

“The central government must order an investigation into these alleged foreign assets and companies,” he said.

The allegations have added to the ongoing political row in Assam, with tensions escalating in the run-up to the Assembly elections.