'Tehelka planted story against Assam Minister'

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI, AUG. 23. The tehelka.com is suspected of having used a ``fictitious'' reporter to allege that the State PWD Minister, Mr. Sarat Barkatoky, bribed a woman - linked with the former Chief Minister, Mr. P.K. Mahanta - to bring in bigamy charges against the latter.

The Minister of State for Home, Mr. Pradyut Bardoloi, told The Hindu today, that the Gangtok- based reporter, Ms. Priya Singh's name was used as a front, but the person concerned was actually based at Guwahati and was being used for ``damage-control exercise.''

The Government has taken a serious view of the matter and police has been directed to find out the real identity of the reporter who had planted the story on Tehelka. It has been ascertained that no reporter named Ms. Priya Singh had come to Guwahati, met Mr. Barkatoky or anyone in the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee or any local journalist.

Mr. Bardoloi also said the Government was trying to find out the details of the property acquired by the woman, a junior government employee, who claims to have ``married'' Mr. Mahanta and whether it could be accounted for by her known sources of income.

``Charges baseless''

PTI reports from Kolkata:

The Assam Chief Minister, Mr. Tarun Gogoi, today described as ``baseless and false'' the allegation by the Asom Gana Parishad that the Congress had masterminded a ``political conspiracy'' against Mr. Mahanta.

To a question about the alleged second marriage of Mahanta, he said, ``everyone knows about it. Photographs were taken publicly.''

``We should have taken political mileage out of it but we have not. Mr. Mahanta would not have spared me in such a case. We know many other things, but we are not interested in it,'' he added.

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