On Wednesday (28th August), Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma leveled ‘spying charges’ against Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. He accused the JMM leader of putting his cabinet colleague and former CM Champai Soren under “surveillance”. CM Sarma said that it is “unprecedented” in the history of Independent India that a government kept a Former CM who is also a sitting Cabinet Minister under surveillance and was tracking his movement.
The Assam Chief Minister added that he also suspects that Champai Soren’s phone was also tapped and there was possibly a scheme to ‘honey trap’ him.
श्री चंपई सोरेन जी अभी भी झारखंड राज्य के मंत्री हैं। आप सुन के हैरान होंगे कि JMM-Cong के लोग संविधान बचाने की बात करते हैं लेकिन चंपई जी जैसे एक वरिष्ठ आदिवासी नेता पर snooping करने के लिए एक बड़ा षड्यंत्र भी रचते हैं। झारखंड पुलिस के कुछ आला अधिकारी पकड़े गये हैं। pic.twitter.com/AAn63Bzwb8
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 28, 2024
Notably, CM Sarma addressed a press conference on Wednesday where he levelled serious charges of espionage against the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand. He said that yesterday, two Jharkhand Special Branch officers were detained and they were handed over to the Delhi Police for spying on Champai Soren during his Delhi trip.
Following this development, they came to know that the Jharkhand government was tracking Champai Soren’s movement and kept him under surveillance for five months.
It is pertinent to note that Champai Soren is an estranged JMM leader who previously served as the state CM. Currently, he is a sitting cabinet Minister in the Hemant Soren government but will join the BJP on 30th August. Assam CM Sarma is BJP’s co-in-charge for poll-bound Jharkhand.
During the press conference, CM Sarma also informed that Champai Soren has filed an FIR against the JMM-Congress government under ‘spying charges’. As per reports, the Former Jharkhand CM has filed an FIR in Delhi accusing his current colleagues of putting him under surveillance and tracking his movements.
According to the Assam CM, Jharkhand Special Branch (SB) officers trailed Champai Soren during his Delhi trips. But yesterday, the official staff of Champai Soren apprehended them inside the hotel premises and handed them over to the Delhi Police.
Sarma added that the two were taking photographs of Soren’s hotel room in the national capital.
He further stated that the sub-inspectors told their interrogators that they flew to Delhi on the same flight that Soren boarded from Kolkata and stayed in a room close to that of the Jharkhand leader at the hotel in the national capital.
He added that the two initially said that they were journalists, but the Delhi Police found out that they are Sub-inspectors in the Jharkhand Police.
Sarma stated that the detained Jharkhand Police officials admitted that they were working at the behest of a “senior person” holding a “constitutional post” in their state. He said that they mentioned the name of the ADGP Special branch, IG Prabhat Kumar stating that he entrusted them with this duty.
The BJP leader added that he has the names and pictures of both officers. He, however, stressed that he don’t want to reveal their identity as they may be working in other operations like Naxal or others. He added that it wouldn’t be right to expose their cover.
Phone Tapping and possible Honey trap angle: Assam CM suspect there was a conspiracy to frame Champai Soren
The Assam Chief Minister said that when the duo were staying in the hotel, a woman was also spotted with them. He said that he suspected that there was a scheme to (honey) trap Champai Soren. He added that it is a serious issue as the two Jharkhand officers also admitted to the presence of a woman there.
He said, “I suspect even his phone may have been tapped.”
Slamming the JMM-Cong government, Sarma said that they constantly talk about saving the Constitution but indulge in such things. He asked does the Indian Constitution permits to assault on someone’s privacy. Is Champai Soren a naxal or extremist? Such espionage can’t take place in any civilized country, the Assam Chief Minister added. Subsequently, he demanded a thorough inquiry into this incident.
Slamming I.N.D.I. alliance parties, CM Sarma said, “You can understand the Politics of Congress and JMM parties, they don’t spare their esteemed colleague and those people tell us that they are protecting the constitution.”
He asserted, “This is not a security lapse, this is serious espionage, a government has kept their own minister under surveillance. It is a matter of surveillance”, adding that the veteran JMM leader was under surveillance for the last 5 months even when he had no association with the BJP.
Meanwhile, he said that both the Jharkhand officials are currently in the custody of Delhi Police. As per Assam CM, the duo has not been arrested as they are on-duty officers and further action will be taken by the Delhi Police as per the law and the findings of the investigation.