NEW DELHI: The Assam Police registered a case against Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and others under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Monday.
“In pursuance of the Cabinet decision taken yesterday, Assam Police has lodged an FIR and the same had been registered as CID PS Case No 05/2025 U/S 48/152/61/197(1) BNS, 2023 RW Sec13(1) UA(P) Act against Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and unknown others,” Sarma said in a post on X.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party, dismissing the actions as diversionary tactics. “Assam government can conduct any inquiry but we know where we stand,” the Congress MP said amid controversy over his wife’s ‘ISI links’
The Assam chief minister had indicated on Sunday that a police case might also be registered to investigate allegations of Pakistani links of Congress leader Akhil Gogoi’s wife, Elizabeth Colburn, who is a British national. However, the Assam cabinet decided on Sunday not to order a case against her.
The chief minister had said the state government would write to the Centre for probing Colburn’s participation in Lok Sabha campaigns, despite being a British citizen, in the erstwhile Kaliabor constituency, which was won by Gogoi twice.
Sarma said that Sheikh had engagements with the Pakistani government and also founded Lead Pakistan, a non-profit organization focusing on climate change. He claimed that Elizabeth Colburn was associated with Lead Pakistan during her time in Islamabad.
The Assam CM said that various news reports, social media posts, and other public information had surfaced regarding comments made by Sheikh. “In recent days, multiple news reports, social media posts, and other information in the public domain have surfaced regarding certain comments made by Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh aimed at disrupting communal harmony in Assam,” Sarma said.
He added that an analysis of Sheikh’s social media activity showed “exhaustive commentary on India’s internal affairs and parliamentary matters, raising serious concerns about his intentions to compromise and damage India’s interests.”
Sarma said Sheikh had “deep roots in the government of Pakistan and its leadership,” having represented Pakistan in international forums and served on committees formed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. “Closer examination of information from the public domain reveals that Ali Sheikh is an influential individual with deep roots in the govt of Pakistan and its leadership, having represented Pakistan in international forums. It has come to the attention of the Assam cabinet via publicly available information that Ali Sheikh has served the govt of Pakistan in various advisory positions and on committees constituted by the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” he said.
Gaurav Gogoi had earlier said that allegations of “ISI links” of his wife are being levelled as the Bharatiya Janata Party government “is trying to hide its unfulfilled promises made to the people of Assam”.
Calling the remarks of the Assam CM as “baseless, factless, slanderous”, Gogoi said the BJP government has “no performance to show”.
“They are unable to fulfil any of their promises and in order to hide their failures, they are embarking upon a mischievous, malicious, baseless, factless, slanderous campaign.”