GUWAHATI, Oct 3 � The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which has declared an anti-corruption drive targetting ministers and other high officials, on Sunday alleged that Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had launched the channel News Live through corporate fraud, thus setting up a nexus between corporate, media, criminals and politics.
The KMSS claimed that News Live was the instance of the first corporate fraud in the history of the State�s politics and sought to substantiate its allegations of fraud against the Health Minister through relevant certified documents which were produced before the media here. This news channel reportedly has been launched with an investment of Rs 100 crore.
Addressing mediapersons, KMSS secretary Akhil Gogoi informed that the organisation would approach the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Union Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in connection with the fraud.
Calling upon Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to initiate action against his tainted minister against whom the KMSS has brought many allegations of corruption with proof, Akhil Gogoi said that the KMSS and the people would be bound to conclude that the Chief Minister had endorsed the corrupt activities of Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Gogoi also challenged the Chief Minister to announce before the people of the State whether he had met RH Khan or not and if he had taken money from Khan, one of the prime suspects in the Rs 1000-crore NC Hills scam.
To validate his charges against Himanta, Gogoi through certified documents and video recordings alleged that a major portion of the investment in News Live had come from fraudulent companies like BKT Finance Private Ltd which had no connection with the Registrar of Companies and the Reserve Bank of India.
Gogoi also alleged that many partners who had invested in News Live were controversial characters.
�When we investigated the address given by BKT Finance Private Ltd in Chennai, we found no evidence of such an institution,� said Gogoi.
It needs to be mentioned here that BKT Finance Private Ltd has invested Rs 751 lakh in the news channel and is run in the name of Ranjit Bhattacharya, whose father is a family priest in Kachuwa, Dhalpur and Bhaskar Sarma whose family members still serve as pandas in Kamakhya temple. Both of them are close aides of Himanta.
�The equity share capital in News Live is Rs 1718.50 lakh, investment from friends and well-wishers whose names are not available is Rs 443.50 lakh, and the loan secured from NEDFi is Rs 143.63 lakh,� said Gogoi, regretting that an institution like NEDFi has granted such a huge loan without considering issues like ethics. He warned that NEDFi too would have to give an explanation and that the KMSS would mobilize public opinion against NEDFi if it failed to come up with a credible explanation behind sanctioning the loan.
Gogoi said that there was no end to the corruption perpetrated by Himanta and that the KMSS would step by step divulge the sources of the �infinite� assets of Himanta, both inside and outside the country.
