Abdurrahman Aman | India Tomorrow
GUWAHATI, FEBRUARY 4–The National Investigation agency (NIA) on Monday ( Feb 3) interrogated Prof. Arupjyoti Saikia, a faculty member of IIT, Guwahati, for the second time in the last three days in connection with violence that erupted in the city during mass protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on December 11, 2019.
Prof. Saikia, who teaches history in the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT, Guwahati, was also summoned by NIA in connection with a case in which he is alleged to have nexus with several Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leaders including Akhil Gogoi who are being investigated for their involvement with Maoist groups and with the violent protest angainst CAA.
Prof. Saikia was interrogated for four hours at the agency’s Guwahati office on Saturday and then he was asked to appear before the NIA on Monday. His statement is recorded as witness of the case in connection with the four leaders of KMSS including AkhiL Gogoi under section 160 of CrPC.
The government seems to frame charges against the IIT academician for his alleged role of inciting the protesters to indulge in riots in Guwahati and for his longtime association with Akhil Gogoi who was reportedly in touch with the revolutionary Communist group that merged with the CPI (Maoist).
Besides being a noted academician, Prof. Saikia has been working in the field of peasants’ interest for longtime. Moreover, his works in the field of forest and ecology is also remarkable.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, a section of leading academicians and intellectuals sent a letter to NIA, asking the agency to behave with Prof. Saikia with dignity and respect during interrogation.
Those ,who signed the letter included renowned historian Ramchandra Guha, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Nandini Sundar, Nivedita Menon, A R Vengkatsalapathi and Srinath Raghavan.
Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hinted at alleged role of a leading academician in violent protest against CAA in December last year and claimed that he was guiding the protesters from a remote place.
KMSS leader Hussain Mohammad Shahjahan was also interrogated on Monday by NIA in connection with the same case for about six hours. He wsas for the first time interrogated on Friday.
KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi, who was on the forefront of anti-CAA stir, was arrested by Assam police in December last on charges of him being a Maoist. Later, he was booked by the NIA under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with an old case which had been pending at Chandmari Police station since 2009. Other KMSS leaders-Dhairjya Konwar and Bittu Sonowal, and Chatra Mukti leader Manash Konwar have also been arrested by NIA. They are imprisoned in Guwahati Central jail.
The NIA alleges that under the cover of the ongoing protests against CAA, Akhil Gogoi and his organization KMSS was spreading Maoist ideology and its network in Assam.
But various organizations of the state, civil societies and intellectuals like retired professor of Gauhati University Dr. Hiren Guhain, senior journalist Ajit kumar Bhuyan, senior advocate Arup Barbara and others have been demanding the release of all the arrested KMSS leaders.
