GUWAHATI, August 25: Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a high-level inquiry by a High Court judge into the illegal cattle trading and smuggling in the state.
In the letter, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi referred to a recent statement made by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma when he said that a syndicate was actively operating illegal trading and smuggling of cows in Assam.
“We are writing this letter to bring to your notice a very serious statement of chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. Dr Sarma (had recently) announced that a syndicate was actively operating an illegal trading and smuggling of cows in Assam,” Gogoi stated.
“The business, according to him, was transacting up to Rs 1000 crore in one month. The statement of Dr Sarma carries weight as it comes from a chief minister,” the AJP chief stated.
“The NDA government, under the stewardship of Sarbananda Sonowal, functioned in Assam from 2016-2021. In five years, the illegal cattle smuggling involved a staggering amount of Rs 60,000crore. The illegal trade and smuggling of cows of such a huge scale merits a high-level inquiry,” Gogoi wrote in the letter to the Prime Minister.
The AJP president further stated that “more importantly the present chief minister was also a minister in the state Congress ministry from 2006 to 2016. It can be safely assumed that Sarma had knowledge of the illegal trade in that period too. The period from 2006 to 2021will add up to a scam of an unprecedented amount”.
“We demand that a high-level inquiry should be initiated by a sitting High Court judge to go to the bottom of the whole business. The inquiry is needed to do justice to cow protection in your regime,” Gogoi stated.