The Assam Government may seek the help of Interpol to probe the anti-India activities of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday (March 4, 2025).
In February, the State police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) registered a case against Mr. Sheikh for his social media comments on Assam and India’s internal affairs. An advisor to the Pakistan Planning Commission, Mr. Sheikh allegedly has links to British-born Elizabeth Colburn Gogoi, who is married to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.
The Chief Minister said the SIT had obtained substantial preliminary information about Mr. Sheikh. “He visited India along with many people from Pakistan, including that country’s Attorney-General. They stayed in smaller hotels to avoid public glare, and the visits continued until the COVID-19 pandemic,” he told journalists on Tuesday (March 4, 2025).
Home Minister looped in
The CM said that he had apprised Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the developments in the “sensitive” matter. “The SIT can probe the case up to a certain level. At some stage, we will have to take the help of an agency like the Interpol,” Mr. Sarma said.
He noted that Mr. Sheikh was in touch with some Assamese people. “We have learnt that an Assamese woman and her husband, who works at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, were in touch with him,” he added.
‘ISI influence’
He insisted that the investigation was not merely centred on an individual, as the influence of Pakistan and the Inter-Services Intelligence in India was apparent. He said a clearer picture of Mr. Sheikh’s alleged anti-India activities would emerge after two to three months.
Mr. Sarma and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been attacking Mr. Gogoi over his British wife’s alleged links with the ISI through Mr. Sheikh.
On Monday (March 3, 2025), the Chief Minister told the 126-member Assembly that Mr. Gogoi had received a wedding gift from Rakesh Kumar Paul, the prime accused in the cash-for-job scam linked to recruitment by the Assam Public Service Commission.
