Akhil Gogoi had been in jail since December 2019 (File)
The National Investigation Agency has introduced a supplementary chargesheet in the only pending UAPA and sedition case against Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi, days after he was acquitted in another case. Reacting to the latest development, Mr Gogoi, who has been in jail since December 2019, said the chargesheet was a conspiracy to keep him in jail.
The NIA had taken over two cases - filed in Chandmari and Chabua police station -- in December 2019 regarding Mr Gogoi's alleged involvement in violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Serious charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the sedition law were slapped against him.
"The NIA had filed a supplementary chargesheet last Tuesday along with the existing chargesheet that was filed in December 2019. The new chargesheet is based on a protected witness. There were two other protected witnesses in this case," Krishna Gogoi, Akhil Gogoi's lawyer, said today.
A protected witness is the one whose details aren't revealed or listed to the court until they are presented.
The court was scheduled to hear the Chandmari case today, but the move has delayed the proceedings further, the lawyer said.
"The first hearing was conducted on June 24 along with Chabua case and the next was supposed to be on June 30. But, yesterday, NIA introduced the supplement chargesheet which has further delayed the court's proceedings," he said.
Akhil Gogoi, in a letter written in Assamese from jail, said, "The protected witness in his recorded statement to the court has said that I am involved in supari (areca nut) syndicate, cow smuggling syndicate and honey trapping businessmen to extort money, whereas I was initially arrested for alleged terrorist activities. So, as part of their conspiracy, I have now become a mafia from a terrorist. These are nothing but conspiracies to keep me behind bars."
On June 24, Akhil Gogoi was discharged of all charges in the Chabua police station case due to the lack of "substantial materials" against him.
Mr Gogoi had led a group of over 61 organisations during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Assam.