A special National Investigation Agency court on Tuesday cleared jailed peasants’ rights activist Akhil Gogoi in one of the two cases file...
A special National Investigation Agency court on Tuesday cleared jailed peasants’ rights activist Akhil Gogoi in one of the two cases filed against him in connection with protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Assam in 2019, Live Law reported.
Gogoi will, however, continue to be in judicial custody as another case against him is still pending.
The NIA is investigating two cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Gogoi and his associates. One case was filed at the Chabua police station in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, while the other was registered at Chandmari police station in Guwahati. On Tuesday, Gogoi was cleared in the Chabua case. Two of Gogoi’s associates were also acquitted.
Special NIA judge Pranjal Das said: “I do not find a prima-facie case for the purpose of framing charge, to hold him personally criminally liable for offences of rioting, unlawful assembly causing damage to property, causing hurt to public official on duty.”
Bhasco de Saikia, the head of Raijor Dal, which is the political wing of Gogoi’s Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti told The Wire that the acquittal proved that the activist and his associates had been framed in the case. “This is the fascist tendency of the present regime,” he said. “The people of Assam should...
