A 4-member CID team arrived at the Golai-based AOD Marketing Terminal in Digboi and conducted its preliminary investigation into alleged collection of illegal money from drivers of oil tankers on Monday.
It may be mentioned that Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday ordered a probe to investigate into the alleged collection of illegal money from the drivers of the oil tankers at the terminal in Digboi under Tinsukia district.
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The CID sleuths as part of the investigation recorded the statements of the office-bearers of Golai Association and collected various documents of the Association from its temporary office erected near the entrance of the marketing terminal.
Besides verifying the legal status of the Association, the CID team on reaching the site found that youths of Golai Association including male and female were engaged in a business of providing services to the needy drivers
of the oil tankers in the form of ‘mandatory gadgets’.
Data and documents including copies of FIRs registered (case No 212 /18 and 213/18) pertaining to allegations and counter-allegations by the drivers-cum-members of the APMU and terminal workers-cum-members of Golai Association were also collected from the local police station to go into the depth of the case.
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“The investigating team also recorded the statements of some of the drivers of oil tankers earlier in Tinsukia,” informed an APMU member of Tinsukia.
It may be reiterated that the APMU during the courses of its indefinite agitation commencing from the 27th last and till its withdrawal on August 29 evening had categorically alleged involvement of local BJP MLA Suren Phukon of Digboi in the alleged syndicate.
However, challenging the validity of the allegation leveled by the APMU, Phukan told here on Monday evening that he had urged the State Chief Minister on Friday last for a CID probe to unearth the reality.
Phukan alleged, “The nasty affairs of collecting money from hundreds of drivers of the oil tankers each day is being carried out by a group in nexus under the leadership of Ranjan Chowdhury, the president of APMU, Upper Assam with the oil traders and smugglers earlier at Tinsukia Terminal.”
Meanwhile, the CID sleuths could not record the statement of APMU leader Ranjan Chowdhury who has been hospitalized at a private nursing home at Dibrugarh.
However, a member of the investigating team said, “All the relevant pros and cons of the case from all possible aspects have been put into microscopic observation and we are progressing in our investigations.”