GUWAHATI, April 7: A political controversy erupted in Assam on Monday after a viral audio clip allegedly linked to a money demand from a coal syndicate surfaced online, prompting Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah to file an FIR at Hatigaon Police Station, accusing unknown individuals of a conspiracy to defame him.
The audio, now widely circulated on social media, features a man—reportedly a close aide of Borah—pressuring a coal trader to deliver a payment “before Bihu” as per “Bhupen da’s” instruction. The caller claims the funds are to be handed over to a person associated with Assam Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur Goswami and admits that similar payments had been made to her in the past.
According to the FIR, Borah has dismissed the audio as “fabricated” and part of a larger attempt to damage his credibility just as Congress intensifies its campaign against illegal coal syndicates in the state. “This is a conspiracy to weaken our fight,” Borah wrote in his complaint, adding that he has never sought money from any coal business entity.
Borah, currently attending the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and AICC sessions in Gujarat, also named one Likhan Kumbang in his complaint, accusing him of uploading the clip. He has requested that police take action under the Information Technology Act, 2000, for defamation and cyber manipulation.
In a swift response, the Assam BJP launched a frontal attack on the Congress, demanding public clarification from Borah. Assam BJP chief spokesperson Manoj Baruah said, “The voices in the clip, allegedly belonging to Bhupen Borah and Mira Borthakur Goswami, raise serious ethical and political questions. These cannot be dismissed as AI-generated fabrications.”
Baruah also pointed to a separate viral audio involving CPI(M) MLA Manoranjan Talukdar, in which a similar money demand was made to sugarcane traders. “The opposition keeps shouting about corruption, but their hands aren’t clean either,” he added, accusing rival parties of hypocrisy.
The Congress, however, stood firm behind Borah. Senior party leaders dismissed the clip as a targeted smear campaign orchestrated by vested interests uncomfortable with the party’s recent focus on coal syndicate corruption. Party insiders hinted that the timing of the audio’s release—just ahead of Bihu and during a major internal party meeting—was too convenient to be coincidental.
Police have not issued any official statement on the authenticity of the audio clip or the status of the investigation. However, with elections looming and Assam’s coal trade long mired in controversy, the issue has the potential to escalate into a major political flashpoint.
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