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Guwahati, Aug. 26 : The All Assam Students Union (AASU) today struck at the new found bonhomie among the AGP leaders, saying it will never tolerate a clean chit to former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta over the secret killings that rocked Assam during the regional party’s regime.

The union’s stand comes within days of the AGP leadership giving Mahanta more say in the party.

The union said by exonerating Mahanta from the secret killing charges, party president Chandra Mohan Patowary had made himself an accomplice.

AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said hundreds of youths were killed during Mahanta’s tenure. He said Mahanta who led the Assam movement knew the secret killers but did nothing to punish them.

“How can the people of Assam believe Mahanta again? And how could Patowary dare to give a clean chit to Mahanta? The AASU warns Patowary and his party not to take sides with Mahanta as it would insult the sacrifices made by the people of Assam,” Bhattacharyya said.

On Sunday, Patowary and “sidelined” Mahanta had jointly addressed a news conference and announced a slew of combined public meetings to strengthen the AGP at the grassroots level.

Bhattacharyya said Mahanta and the AGP couldn’t escape the charges of secret killings.

He said the AGP leadership’s move to give Mahanta the driver’s seat in the party would help the Tarun Gogoi government and the misdeeds of Mahanta would once again become the election issue of the ruling party.

“Mahanta has lost the moral right to lead the people because of his unpardonable misdeeds, particularly the secret killings,” he said.

The union also termed the statement of Patowary that the Assam Accord could not be implemented during the AGP’s regime because of the enforcement of the IM(DT) Act as “ridiculous and misleading”.

“The AGP government did not take any step to effectively seal the Assam-Bangladesh border and safeguard the interests of the indigenous people. The Mahanta government could not reopen the Ashok Paper Mill, an important clause of the Accord. Will the present AGP leadership also blame the IM(DT) Act for failure in these fronts?” he asked.

Dispur this evening said it was reinvestigating some of the secret killing cases as recommended by the K.N. Saikia Commission. Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said some cases were being reinvestigated.