Assam: Congress suspends Cachar chief Sajal Acharjee over alleged bid to sell party land

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: In a stern action, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge has suspended Sajal Acharjee, president of the party's Cachar district unit, over his alleged attempt to sell a portion of land belonging to the party office.

Earlier, the state Congress had stripped Acharjee of all his powers and issued him a show-cause notice following a complaint that he had approached the district land revenue office seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to sell 10 kathas of land belonging to Indira Bhawan, the Cachar district office of the party. Former district president Arun Dutta Majumdar will replace Acharjee, following an order issued by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

Sajal Acharjee, while refuting the allegations, claimed that he had been falsely implicated in the case and had already lodged an FIR with Silchar police seeking an investigation. Acharjee said APCC chief Gaurab Gogoi had served him a show-cause notice, to which he had submitted a reply detailing his non-involvement in the alleged incident.

Acharjee further claimed that his signature on the NOC application had been forged and pointed fingers at former DCC president Abhijit Paul.

He also maintained that since the police were investigating the case following his FIR, the AICC's decision could not be termed his removal from the post.

Paul, on the other hand, clarified that the AICC had indeed suspended Acharjee, as his rebuttal lacked substantial evidence to disprove his alleged role in the attempt to sell the party's property.

 Dutta Majumdar said the truth would emerge only after the investigation.  However, district general secretary Pappan Deb said more people were involved in the case and that everyone responsible should be punished.

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