Guwahati: The court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Goalpara, on Tuesday granted bail to Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi in a case registered against him at the Dudhnoi police station, a development which will see the peasant leader released from jail on Wednesday if police do not arrest him in any other case.
Akhil has been in jail since September 18 when he was arrested on sedition charges for making an allegedly provocative speech at a public rally in Moran, Dibrugarh district. His arrest led to protests by his supporters and a section of intellectuals and the Opposition Congress.
The peasant leader was arrested in the Dudhnoi case last Saturday ostensibly to block his release from jail after Gauhati High Court quashed the order for his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) on December 21 and Dibrugarh district court granted him bail in a case against him at Moran police station the next day.
Akhil's counsel Krishna Gogoi said the Goalpara CJM, Ipsita Borthakur, had granted him bail against a bond of Rs 10,000.
"After perusing the case diary and other relevant documents submitted by the police, the court found that further custodial detention was not required in this case and decided to grant bail," he said.
He said Akhil, who is currently lodged in Goalpara district jail, is likely to be released on Wednesday if the police do not arrest him in any other case.
The Dudhnoi police station case (number 112/17) was registered under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 447 (rioting) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50 or more) of the IPC and Section 120 (B) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
Akhil was named in the FIR after members of the KMSS and its students' wing Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti defaced the name of Deendayal Upadhyaya Model College at Dudhnoi with black paint after it was inaugurated by education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
According to the KMSS, Akhil has no connection with the case and he was arrested in this case to prevent his release.
