'Deadly Nexus' Tried to Burn Down Assam Secretariat During Protests, NIA Asked to Probe: Minister

Guwahati, Dec 17 (PTI) The Assam government on Tuesday said that there may be a "deadly nexus" among a section of Congress workers, "urban Naxals" and Islamic outfit PFI that tried burn down the state secretariat during December 11 protests and the NIA has been asked to probe the matter.

Adressing a press conference here, state finance and health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that an SIT has been formed to probe the incidents of violence that rocked the state during protests over the citizenship law last week.

"We have found that there may be a deadly nexus between urban Naxals, PFI and a section of Congress workers during the violence on December 11. There was a deep-rooted design to attack the Janata Bhavan (secretariat) on that day and burn it. The secretariat attack was pre-planned and coreographed," Sarma alleged.

"We have evidence of Assam Youth Congress president Kamrul Islam Choudhury being involved in the attack at the state secretariat in Dispur on GS Road," he said, showing a photograph of the incident.

The minister alleged that Choudhury had set ablaze the dais built for Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Guwahati.

Abe's visit was later cancelled due to the protests.

"You will clearly see that slowly a pattern of violence is evolving where the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the CFI, which are offshoots of the SIMI, were behind the violence in Guwahati. They had a plan to demolish the city," the minister alleged.

Sarma, also the convener of the Northeast Democratic Association or NEDA, said he will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday in New Delhi.

He said he will brief Shah about the violence in the state and also hold discussions to find a political solution regarding the protests over the citizenship law.

Sarma further alleged that a Congress activist, identified as Kazi Tanvi Tanjum, asked people to gather in front of the secretariat complex on the morning of December 11 though Facebook and "she is very close to a Congress MP but he is not Gaurav Gogoi".

Without naming, he said the government has evidence that a leading academician working at a central educational institute was monitoring the "entire exercise".

"That Assamese academician gave three statements -- revolution has started, all you senior leaders disappear and now enter through the Janata Bhavan gate," Sarma said.

Based on the evidences, it was found that the academician was giving instructions from a control room, he added.

"We have seen a design here. So the government decided to hand over the matter to the NIA to investigate the specific incident of violence related to the secretariat in Guwahati," Sarma said.

A case has been registered at the Chandmari police station in the city, he added.

In another incident that happened at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra in the Panjabari area, there is evidence of an NSUI leader being involved, Sarma said.

NSUI is the students' wing of the Congress.

"I want to make one thing very clear that these two incidents are different from the democratic protests by the AASU and the students of colleges and universities. These incidents of violence were carried out to put the blame on the AASU, rather than the state government," he said.

To probe the violence that took place across Assam, the government has formed an SIT that will be headed by deputy inspector general (CID) Mridulananda Sarma, he said, adding that the state will also urge the Centre to depute an officer either from the CBI or the NIA to help in the investigations.

Since December 9, 200 cases, including that of arson, looting, vandalism, attempt to murder and burning of government properties, have been registered across Assam, Sarma said.

"273 people have been arrested in connection with these cases, including 107 in Guwahati," he said.

Further, the minister said that after discussion with security agencies, the state government has decided to extend the ban on mobile internet till Wednesday and it will be reviewed the next day.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)