By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 4: In the wake of media reports on coal illegalities finding a mention for James Sangma, the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president, Vincent H Pala, said the state government should come clean about Health Minister James PK Sangma’s name being linked to the illegal coal trade once again.
“The government should clarify and should set up an inquiry if only to pacify the public,” he said on Saturday.
Allegations of the manipulation of the system to offload Meghalaya’s coal to Bangladesh resurfaced after a Guwahati-based news channel ran a story on the reported ties between Sangma and infamous coal trader Balwant Soni.
“The name of James appeared in a media (outlet) not from her but from Guwahati. We cannot say if the report is right or wrong and so it is up to him to clarify,” Pala said.
“If the government thinks the allegations are false, they should file a case against the channel. But if it is quiet, it will mean something is wrong,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister was in charge of mining.
Sangma, a former Home Minister, had trashed the charge.
“If we accuse anyone we need to substantiate with evidence. We all know that accusations fly left and right. I have not seen the video. Whatever it is, I am very sure it is something I have no involvement in. It is just a mere accusation,” he had said.
Asked about the timing of the video, Sangma said such “frivolous and baseless” accusations will keep coming ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
The investigative report by the news channel, which went viral on social media, said Soni alias Bhama found an ‘Aladdin’s lamp’ to increase his earnings from Rs 3-lakh to more than Rs 100-crore in three years since 2016. The jump was more than 400%, the report claimed.
“Jai Maa Coal Pvt Ltd, a firm based in Guwahati is being used by Soni as a front. The director of the firm is Bhama’s son Youdhistra Bhama and the CA of the company is none other than Bhama’s wife. The firm has been forging bills, undervaluing the tax invoices and transporting coal from Meghalaya to Bangladesh through Gasuapara Custom Station in the Baghmara area. It is alleged that Bhama’s family has close ties with James Sangma, brother of Conrad Sangma,” the report said.