Cong indulging in politics over 'secret killings': Mahanta

Asom Gana Parishad president and former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Sunday charged the ruling Congress government of playing politics regarding the issue of the alleged “secret killings” which shook the state between 1998 and 2001.

“Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday said AGP government of that time was involved in the so-called secret killings which is totally baseless. I want to ask how many innocent persons have lost their lives during the last 11 years of his government,” Mahanta told reporters here.

He said the AGP government, which ruled Assam between 1996 and 2001, had formed a commission under Justice S Haque to investigate the killings when scores of people, including relatives of ULFA leaders, were killed by unknown gunmen.

“However, Gogoi’s government appointed four more commissions in succession for investigating the issue. The Congress government is playing politics with the matter,” Mahanta said. He further said that Gogoi, who also holds the Home Ministry, owes responsibility failure to solve cases relating to death of many persons, including senior FCI official P C Ram and Agriculture department executive engineer Gadapani Pathak, which took place during the current Congress regime.