A group of nine secretaries of Assam Congress dashed off to the national president Sonia Gandhi on March 14th, 2020, demanding the removal of Ripun Bora as state president.
The Congress leaders, while accusing Bora of being involved in the Daniel Topno murder case, said that the latter’s involvement in the murder case damaged the image of the party.
Topno, an influential leader of the tea community who had contested the 1996 Assembly election against Bora from Gohpur constituency, was murdered at Gohpur in Sonitpur district of Assam on September 27th, 2000. He had contested the election on All India Tiwari Congress ticket after being denied a Congress ticket. Neither had won the seat which went to AGP candidate Ganesh Kutum.
In February 2014, the Kamrup district and sessions court discharged Bora and the accused, Pulin Phukan, in the case, not having found sufficient evidence to frame charges against the two.
However, the CBI, which was investigating the case, contested the decision in Gauhati High Court on May 29, 2014. Its first hearing was held in June that year, after which there was no hearing. Later, one Pabitra Hazarika filed an RTI application, seeking information about the case.
Photo: Time8
