KMSS Chief Akhil Gogoi Booked under UAPA: Reports

Guwahati, December 16, 2019:

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chief Akhil Gogoi will be the first to be tried as a terrorist under the new Unlawful Assembly Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), allegedly for "waging war against the nation", sourced informed.

The incarceration of Gogoi, who has been playing an active role in the statewide protests across the C(A)A, is being seen as a major setback to indigenous organizations protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, that came into force recently.

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According to reports, the peasant leader was airlifted from the Jorhat Rowriah Airforce Station in Assam early in the morning on Monday. Now, reports have emerged that Gogoi is likely to be tried at the NIA Court in Guwahati under the UAPA Act.

It may be mentioned here that Gogoi was detained by the Assam Police on Wednesday night, on the day the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha with 125 votes in its favour. On Saturday, the NIA filed a chargesheet against the Assam-based RTI activist and peasant leader.

Along with Gogoi, the general secretary of the peasant body, Dhaijya Konwar, was also been arrested by the police on Saturday.

The arrest of Gogoi, right after a video of him showing a sea of protesters against the Bill-turned-Act and leading chants against the same went viral.

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It is to be mentioned here that the KMSS leaders have been voicing against the Citizenship Amendment Bill from the past few years and launched a mass movement with the other regional organizations and students’ bodies against the Bill which has now been converted into an Act after the Bill got passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

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