NIA raids Akhil Gogoi's residence in Guwahati; RTI activist to remain under police custody till later today

New Delhi: The NIA on Thursday searched the residence of arrested RTI activist Akhil Gogoi here, and seized several documents and a laptop computer, officials said.

The activist, who advises various farmer organisations, was arrested when Assam was witnessing widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Officials of the anti-terror force searched Gogoi's residence in Nizarapara area of Guwahati and also seized copies of his PAN card, an SBI debit card, an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and a bank passbook.

After the three-hour search that began at 7 am had concluded, Gogoi's wife Gitashree Tamuly showed a list of the seized items to reporters. A certificate of registration by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, a letter from Superintending Archaeologist of ASI Milan Kumar Chauley, files marked "Credit-Deposit ratio KMSS File Misc", "Jail 2015", "Jail Diary 2014" and "NHPC LSHEP 2015" featured in the list.

"They (NIA) wanted to see the files in our house and selectively took some of them. I asked them to give me copies of the seized files but they declined. I was also asked if Akhil had met militants when he was jailed earlier," Tamuly said.

The NIA team also asked for the documents relating to the KMSS orchid environment park in Kaziranga but she told them she had no information about them, Tamuly said. The KMSS office in Gandhibasti area of the city was also raided and nine books, including one on the life of China's revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, Marxism, and KMSS leaflets were seized, KMSS president Raju Bora said.

The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader, whose NIA custody was to end on Friday, was brought from New Delhi and will be produced before a court here. While being taken to the NIA court, Gogoi only inquired about the well being of the waiting journalists. The NIA has accused Gogoi of being involved in "terror
activities" and using the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to promote enmity among different groups that was against national integration.

He has also been accused of having links with the banned ultra-Left outfit CPI(Maoist).