Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that the preliminary investigation has found that Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is allegedly linked to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife, has visited India 18 times to date.
During a discussion on Motion of Thanks on the governor's speech, Sarma also claimed that the initial information in the case is "very fatal" for the Congress and will have a "huge impact" on the politics of Assam.
"Within three days, the Assam police SIT on the case found that Ali Tauqeer Sheikh visited India 18 times. Now, we will know who invited and hosted him during those visits," he added.
The CM also stated he knows informally that the preliminary investigation has revealed some startling facts, the impact of which will be huge on Assam politics.
"As per the initial information, the facts are very fatal for the Congress party. As a responsible person standing inside the assembly, I am saying this. I promise to the Assam assembly that we will break the network of Ali Sheikh. Give us three months and we will inform everything in the August session," he added.
Sarma said the investigation findings will put some people in an indefensible position.
"Sheikh apparently works in a climate action group. But his tweets and social media activities are on Assam immigrants. These are an attempt to interfere in India's internal affairs," he added.
The Assam chief minister and the BJP have been attacking Gogoi, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, over his wife Elizabeth Colburn's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
The Assam police on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe a case against the Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh for his social media comments on Assam and India's internal affairs.
Sheikh, an advisor to the Pakistan Planning Commission and a former colleague of Colburn, was charged under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
After much hue and cry over Gogoi's wife's alleged ISI links, the Assam cabinet on Sunday decided not to register any case against the parliamentarian or his British spouse but instructed the DGP to file an FIR against the Pakistani national.
The state government also announced that it will write to the Centre to probe Colburn's participation in Lok Sabha campaigns in the erstwhile Kaliabor constituency, which was won by the Congress MP twice, despite being a British citizen.
The CM on Tuesday said he is not on a "witch hunt" drive over the controversy surrounding Colburn's alleged links with ISI and said that he is driven by only national security, which cannot be compromised.
Earlier, Sarma had softened his stand against Gogoi and said on Sunday that the opposition leader may be "trapped or blackmailed" in the larger "anti-India" conspiracy and expressed sympathy for him.
The BJP leader had last week targeted the Assam MP over the issue, demanding answers regarding the allegations of ISI links, "leading young individuals to the Pakistan embassy for brainwashing and radicalisation, and the refusal to take Indian citizenship for the past 12 years", referring to Colburn's nationality status.
He had also alleged that the deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha had raised questions in Parliament on sensitive defence matters after his marriage to the British citizen, a charge termed by the opposition leader as a "false accusation".
The BJP had also accused Gogoi's wife of having links with Pakistan and the ISI, a charge rejected by the Congress leader as "laughable and entertaining".
Gogoi on Friday said that the BJP went to extreme steps to defame him and his family and asserted that he would be taking appropriate legal action, while he penned a letter in Assamese addressed to his wife and shared it as a post on Facebook on Saturday, assuring her that truth shall prevail.
© 2025