NEW DELHI, Jan 20: Sensitive files crucial to investigations in the multi-crore Letters of Credit (LoC) scam and said to ``establish'' the nexus between Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and main accused Rajen Bora have gone missing from the state secretariat, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources have revealed.Sources said that among the key files that cannot be traced is one from the office of the Deputy Commissioner (Nagaon) which listed the individuals, clubs and institutions who had been ``invited'' by Mahanta to receive bank drafts worth Rs 26 lakhs allegedly made by Bora from the scam-tainted money. Also missing is the file containing the entire process (including the recommendations and notings) of Bora's appointment as chairman of the State Livestock Corporation in 1990, at the time when the LoC scam took place.Sources in the CBI said that the Assam Government had officially conveyed to the agency that these two files are not traceable. CBI officials handling the probe suspectthat the files were removed soon after the case was transferred to them.Interestingly, the list of clarifications sought by Assam Governor, S K Sinha, from the CBI includes details of these bank drafts allegedly made by Bora at Mahanta's request. The governor has also asked for the documents relating to Bora's appointment as well as the statements made to the CBI by Mahanta, Bora, former state veterinary minister Nukul Das and a former accountant with the Integrated Cattle Development Programme (ICDP) at Demow, Mehtab Hussain. The CBI has also been asked to furnish the dates on which they interrogated Mahanta and Nukul Das and the names of the officials who questioned them. Their reply to the governor's detailed queries is in the process of being finalized.In its charge-sheet the CBI had alleged that Bora had, on Mahanta's request, made out 76 bank drafts amounting to around Rs 26 lakh. The money was paid from Bora's bank in Sibsagar where the LoC scam money had been deposited and the list of persons for whom the bank drafts were made was allegedly furnished by Mahanta.The drafts were later distributed by him at public functions in his constituency, Nagaon. Invitations to the recipients of these bank drafts were issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner (Nagaon) ``on behalf of the chief minister.'' It is this file containing the names of persons invited to these functions which has reportedly gone missing.The CBI had also alleged that Bora was made chairman of the Livestock Corporation by Mahanta on the recommendation of state Veterinary Minister Dalip Sonewal Saikia. The appointment was allegedly a ``favour to Bora for the money he gave to Mahanta and others from the LoC scam.'' The file, however, cannot be traced, says the CBI.Meanwhile, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tarun Gogoi has again urged the Centre to immediately dismiss the AGP-led government in the State.
