Guwahati: RTI activist and Team Anna member Akhil Gogoi on Tuesday claimed that the recent molestation of a girl allegedly instigated by the reporter of a local news channel may have been part of a greater conspiracy to tarnish the image of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and destabilise the government.
``The channel is owned by a certain minister of the state whose wife is its CEO and the entire incident had been planned, directed, recorded, telecast and uploaded on You Tube by the news channel with a political motivation``, Gogoi said in a press conference here.
``We feel there may be a possibility that the entire incident was a part of a greater conspiracy to tarnish Gogoi`s image and destabilise the government``, he said.
He also stated that the Chief Minister was ``weak who kept his eyes closed like Dhritarashtra and it was high time he woke up``.
The resignation of the channel`s Editor-in-Chief Atanu Bhuyan has brought to the fore the control of a political class on the channel and ``we welcome the resignation and hope it will lead to more independence in Assam`s media``, he said.
Bhuyan claimed he resigned on the ground that the Chief Minister`s comment yesterday on the role of the journalist and his demand for the resignation of both (Bhuyan and the reporter) could lead to pressure on the management.
Akhil Gogoi also demanded that the journalist Gaurav Jyoti Neog who allegedly instigated the incident, should be arrested immediately along with the prime accused Amarjyoti Kalita.
``We have information that both Neog and Kalita, who are the main culprits of the incident, have a good relation and the latter has been made to flee as many facts will be exposed if he is arrested``, he claimed.
PTI
