Days before Champai Soren joins BJP, party alleges he’s being ‘snooped on’

At a press conference he held in Guwahati Wednesday, Biswa claimed that the “snooping” had been going on for 10 days now and that the Delhi Police had registered a First Information Report on the back of a complaint from Soren, a Cabinet minister. However, neither Soren nor the Delhi Police have confirmed the FIR.

At his press conference, a link of which he has posted on X, the Assam CM claimed some associates of Soren had “caught” two people secretly taking photos at the hotel at which he was staying when he came down to the national capital last week.

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He also alleged that the two were sub-inspectors in Jharkhand Police’s Special Branch and, when confronted, had initially claimed they were journalists.

“A week before Champai Soren had come to Delhi and spent three days there. He had gone to New Delhi again via Kolkata (from Jharkhand) August 26. Both times, they stayed in the Taj Hotel, and both times they were followed. On Tuesday, two persons were caught by Champai’s aide taking pictures and when confronted they initially said they were journalists, but later they admitted that they were Jharkhand Police’s sub inspectors posted in Special Branch,” Sarma alleged.

The two were eventually handed over to the Delhi Police, he went on to claim.

“They both agreed that they have been tracking Champai for a very long time. They said that they were given the responsibility to track Champai on the orders of Special Branch’s IG Prabhat Kumar. I’m not blowing the cover of two persons as it would not be wise to do so,” he alleged.

Jharkhand Police are yet to respond to the allegations. Calls to IG Prabhat Kumar and DGP Anurag Gupta went unanswered as did those made to Champai Soren and his aide.

However, a source in the Delhi Police said that two sub-inspectors from Jharkhand Police were detained from near ITC Maurya at Chanakyapuri and questioned late Tuesday night.

“They (the two officers) were not in uniform. They were let go early this morning after they presented their identification,” this source said, adding that this was “protocol followed by the police whenever there is a movement of cabinet ministers”.

Significantly, while Soren is confirmed to be joining the BJP, the rebel Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader has yet to resign from his Cabinet post as minister of water resources and higher and technical education.

There have rarely ever been such instances in Independent India when a “Cabinet colleague” has been followed by the police, Sarma said, adding: “This is a big issue where privacy has been trampled upon…Suspicion is that the phone would have tapped too as the government funded the stay – of two police officers – in a five-star hotel”.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha refused to comment on the row, with spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya saying he had “no idea about the issue”.