The Assam Cabinet on Sunday directed the state police chief to register a case against an “influential” Pakistani national, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, and carry out an “extensive inquiry” to ascertain whether his activities “are part of a larger conspiracy (against India) and to identify any sympathisers or associates within Assam and across India who may be aiding Mr Sheikh’s anti-India agenda”.

The decision, announced by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after a cabinet meeting held this evening, assumes significance because the cabinet resolution released to the media flags Sheikh’s alleged link with Elizabeth Gogoi, a British national and wife of three-term Congress MP from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi.

Sarma uploaded the cabinet resolution on his X handle. The resolution said Sheikh and Elizabeth Gogoi, “have been a part of global climate action group called the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) which operates in both India and Pakistan”.

The cabinet wants the police to probe the “width and depth” of Sheikh’s network within the Assam and across India; “examine” individuals, organisations and accomplices based in Assam and rest of India who have “aided and abetted Sheikh’s actions against India” and seek “relevant assistance and information from concerned agencies and departments of the Government of India and Government of Assam in the course of the above-mentioned investigation.”

The government decision was along expected lines as Sarma had on Saturday night said his cabinet “will discuss threadbare Hon’ble MP and his wife’s doubtful role in colluding with a hostile country and whether they had plans to subvert the Assam CMO”. However, the cabinet resolution has directed the police to register the case against Sheikh.

Sarma has said there was nothing political now and welcomed Gaurav’s statement to move court.

Hours before the cabinet decision was made final, Gogoi had launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Sarma for targetting him.

In an X post on Friday, Gaurav said, “The BJP has gone to extreme steps to defame me and my family. Their allegations are malicious and baseless. I will be taking the appropriate legal action”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X on Sunday threw his weight behind Gogoi, asserting “the Assam CM and the BJP have begun an atrocious smear campaign targeting my colleague”.

“This is character assassination of the worst type. Legal action is being initiated right away. The smear campaign is because Gaurav Gogoi won the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat in June 2024 in spite of the Assam CM and other ministers camping in Jorhat andcampaigning against him,” Ramesh said.