The Gauhati High Court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of Assamese activist Akhil Gogoi in the case pertaining to his alleged role in violent protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act lodged by the NIA.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Ajit Bathakur rejected the bail petition of Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad (KMSS) and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi.
Gogoi is lodged in Guwahati Central jail since his arrest in December 2019 for his alleged role in anti-CAA riots that rocked various parts of the country last year. He was arrested on December 12, 2019, as a preventive measure as protests against the CAA raged and violence broke out several places in Assam. Gogoi’s case was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
RE | Assam Organisations Pay Homage To 5 Anti-CAA Protestors Killed Last Year
The NIA filed a charge sheet against the activist on June 29, 2020, for allegedly conspiring with proscribed Maoist outfit – the CPI (M) group – to carry out alleged terrorist activities. The agency alleged that the conspiracy hatched by Gogoi in connivance with others included disrupting essential supplies, services and causing damage and destruction to public and private property. It also claimed that the activities were aimed at striking terror in a section of people of India.
According to the NIA, Akhil Gogoi and others accused have used the passage of CAA as an opportunity to further the Maoist agenda and to promote enmity between different groups and disrupt the harmony of the State.
RE | Youth Congress Stages Demonstration In Guwahati; Srinivas BV & Other Top Leaders Detained
Gogoi was a leader of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad – a peasant group in Assam. The All Assam Students Union and the KMSS had spearheaded protests against the CAA in the state, which subsequently slowed down due to the class 10 board examinations and Covid-19 brought it to a halt. Fresh agitation against the CAA was launched by various organisations in Assam on December 2020, demanding the repeal of the legislation. The objective of the CAA is to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities – Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
RE | Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA): One Year Since Contentious Law Was Passed By Parliament
RE | Jay Panda Hints At ‘prominent Faces’ Joining BJP In Next 3 Months As Assam Heads To Polls
