GUWAHATI: Gauhati High Court on Thursday absolved the firebrand farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi of charges framed against him under the National Security Act (NSA) and ordered the Assam chief secretary to institute a probe into the ‘irregularities’ committed by the state government in the process arresting Gogoi under the NSA.
Akhil Gogoi, the leader of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS), was arrested by Assam Police on September 25 last under the NSA Act on charges of sedition after the leader had while addressing a public meeting in Moran in Dibrugarh district threatened to take up arms against the State if the interests of indigenous people in the state were not protected.
The High Court gave the verdict in the case after conducting eight hearings. The verdict would enable Akhil Gogoi to come out of the jail provided he is granted bail in another case registered against him in Moran police station in Dibrugarh district.
Akhil Gogoi has been spearheading various agitations in the state including the sustained protests against construction of 2000 MW mega hydro-power dam by the NHPC at Gerukamukh along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary, eviction of indigenous people from forest and grazing land sans providing alternative space for rehabilitation, BJP-led government’s efforts to settle Bangladeshi Hindu refugees in Assam by bringing about amendment to the Citizenship Act etc.