In a serious allegation, Trinamool Congress MLA and former chief minister Dr. Mukul Sangma today said that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is a close associate of an alleged drug kingpin from Mizoram.
Dr. Sangma said this while taking part in the motion on the menace of drugs and substance abuse in the State moved by opposition VPP MLA Ardent M. Basaiawmoit in the Assembly.
He also read excerpts of a news item in the Business Standard which reported that a commerce graduate from Mizoram Henry Lalremsanga has been arrested in Delhi with a seizure of Rs 6 crore worth of banned tablets. The news report also stated that the arrested youth who was a known drug kingpin is the son of a former Congress MLA from Mizoram.
“It is more disturbing to me when I came across vital information which showed me that Henry Lalremsanga is one of the close associates of none other than our Chief Minister Conrad Sangma,” Dr. Sangma exclaimed.
Showing a photograph of a high profile event in New Delhi where Conrad and Henry were seated together, Dr. Sangma said, “Yes this is the photograph of the chief minister, his wife and Henry in one of the very high profile programmes in Delhi.”
Dr. Sangma said that he tried to find out how Henry managed to find a space in such a high profile event sharing the same table with the Meghalaya chief minister.
“I was informed that his sitting arrangement was requested by the Chief Ministers office,” Dr. Sangma claimed.
“I am happy to bring this to the notice of the chief minister. Let him go through and scan the person concerned and I will advise, suggest and submit that we have to ensure that we delinked our connection with such people,” he added.
Expressing his concerns pertaining to the association of people in authority with people who are allegedly involved in drug peddling, Dr. Sangma said, “What I am trying to say is that we have to be really careful who we are associated with. Otherwise these people will have access if they are travelling with us in the same convoy – Z plus category and having access to such events. We have also to be careful about the people we meet, people who travel with us and who come join us in our parties and get together because they might take advantage of their association with us.”
However, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma denied that he had any links with the alleged drug kingpin and said that Dr. Sangma was trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.
“All of us in the House are public figures. I meet millions of people and they ask for selfies, which I don’t refuse. Connecting two individuals’ activities and coming to a conclusion based on a photograph is the most illogical conclusion that anyone can jump to. It has to be based on evidence of what activities were taking place. It’s unfortunate that a statement of this level by a person of his stature is made,” the chief minister said.
