DIBRUGARH, Sept 14 - Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi, who was arrested last evening by Dibrugarh police from his Chandmari residence in Golaghat district on the charge of sedition, was remanded to four-day police custody by the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate here today. The police had sought 14 days� remand.
The peasant leader had reportedly said at a public meeting at Bamunbari on Tuesday that the path of an armed struggle would have to be adopted if the rights of the indigenous people were infringed upon by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
Akhil was vehemently criticising the governments both at the Centre and in the State over their attempt to accommodate Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam, for failing to implement the Assam Accord and also for not protecting the constitutional rights of the indigenous people, etc. Pro-talk ULFA leader Jiten Dutta also addressed the meeting.
Akhil told the gathering at the meeting that AK-47 rifles would now have to be picked up to wage a war against the nation as the government has been trying to deny the constitutional rights to the indigenous people. Superintendent of Police Gautam Bora told newsmen that Akhil�s pronouncements amounted to a serious case of sedition and incitement, and therefore, a case was subsequently registered at the Moran police station which led to his arrest last evening.
The KMSS leader allegedly was not even allowed to put on his trousers when police arrested him. He was wearing a vest and a lungi at that time. However, Akhil was seen in his trousers today when he was produced before the court. He was brought to the court from behind the Sadar PS as a large number of his supporters had crowded the entrance of the police station.
His arrest evoked protests in various parts of the State, even as the KMSS has �warned� of a Statewide stir demanding his immediate release. The local committee of the Samity staged a road blockade on NH 37 at Amolapatty last night, following which its leader Pradip Haloi was immediately arrested. Several organisations like the Mottock Yuba Chatra Sanmilan, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, Asam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad, Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity, Gana Mukti Sangram Samity, Koch Rajbongshi Students� Union, Tai Ahom Yuba Nari Santha, Asam Surakhya Sena and Muslim Yuba Parishad today staged demonstrations in front of the Sadar PS here demanding his unconditional release.
Bedanta Laskar, KMSS advisor and convenor of Gana Mukti Sangram, Assam, said the ongoing agitation against the BJP-RSS combine would continue. �The RSS had also conducted arms training in some parts of the State. Have they been prosecuted?� he asked, mentioning that KMSS had filed formal complaints on this issue with the police, but to no avail.
