Assam anti-CAA protests: NIA court extends KMSS chief Akhil Gogoi's judicial custody by 14 days

Guwahati: A special NIA court on Friday again remanded Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chief Akhil Gogoi, who has been arrested and booked under stringent UAPA for his alleged role in anti-CAA protests in Assam, to 14-day judicial custody, his lawyer said. [caption id=“attachment_217309” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  KMSS general secretary Akhil Gogoi. Image courtesy Ibnlive[/caption] Gogoi was produced before the court amid tight security at the end of his previous 14-day judicial custody on Friday. The court has again remanded Gogoi to judicial custody and directed that he be produced on February 10, his advocate Santanu Borthakur told PTI. Gogoi was last produced before the court on 10 January after being sent to judicial custody for 14 days on 26 December. The peasant leader, before being produced in the court on Friday, shouted ‘Jai Aai Asom’ (Hail Mother Assam) and urged people to intensify the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “The time for symbolic protests is over. The agitation should be intensified. People should fight a united battle against the CAA or else there are possibilities of betrayal by people with vested interests,” he told waiting journalists. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Gauhati High Court seeking Gogoi’s custody again. The case will come up for hearing on 3 February. Police had arrested Gogoi from Jorhat on 12 December and handed him over to the NIA. The agency booked him under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Gogoi was sent to NIA custody for 10 days on 17 December after which he was taken to Delhi without informing the court. Activists of Gogoi-led KMSS were allegedly instrumental in mobilising anti-CAA protests across several districts in eastern Assam. Various organisations, including the Congress, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) have demanded Gogoi’s immediate release.