New Delhi: In a dramatic escalation of the political standoff between Congress and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, senior Congress leader and party’s Media & Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera filed a petition on Wednesday before the Telangana High Court seeking anticipatory bail. He listed his residential address as Hyderabad as Assam Police intensified their pursuit of him across the country.
The Assam Police had registered a case against Khera for defamation, forgery, and criminal conspiracy after he leveled serious allegations against the wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma. On April 5, Khera alleged that she holds passports from three countries and owns companies worth ₹52,000 crore in the United States — assets he claimed were not declared in the CM’s election affidavit.
In his petition, Khera sought transit anticipatory bail to approach courts in Assam. He named the Guwahati Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police’s police station and the Telangana government as respondents.
Speaking defiantly from an undisclosed location in a video released by the Congress party, Khera declared he was not afraid. “Intimidation may be your habit, but cowering in fear is not ours,” he said. He added, “100 police personnel arrived at my flat yesterday and took my electronic gadgets. Wherever I go, or wherever they suspect I might have gone, they send police there.
Taking his allegations further, Khera displayed documents in the video, demanding a probe into claims relating to Egyptian and Antigua & Barbuda passports, a UAE Golden Visa, and alleged shell companies. He pointedly asked, “Instead of answering questions, why do you want to silence Congress and me?