A special NIA court in Guwahati on Thursday, 26 December, remanded peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi, who had been arrested by the agency, to judicial custody for 14 days.
The special court also turned down NIA's plea to extend his custody for 10 days.
Gogoi was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Jorhat on 12 December, when large-scale protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act were taking place in Assam, under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader, whose NIA custody was to end on Friday, was brought from New Delhi and produced before the court in Guwahati.
NIA Searches Gogoi’s House, Seizes Documents
Meanwhile, the NIA also searched the residence of Akhil Gogoi in Guwahati on Thursday, and seized several documents and a laptop computer, officials said.
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.
‘Was Asked if Akhil Had Met Militants’
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.”Gitashree Tamuly
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 NIA had 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).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)