NIA Court grants bail to KMSS leader Bittu Sonowal

A special NIA court in Guwahati on Wednesday granted bail to KMSS leader Bittu Sonowal, who was arrested for his role in violent anti-CAA protests along with Akhil Gogoi and two others.

Guwahati:KMSS leader Bittu Sonowal, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in violent anti-CAA protests along with Akhil Gogoi and two others, was granted bail by a Special NIA Court on Wednesday.

Sonowal, Gogoi and another KMSS leader Dhaijya Konwar are being treated at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.

"Bittu was granted bail today by the Special Judge of the NIA Court. The court granted him bail against a bond of Rs 30,000," Sonowal's advocate Santanu Borthakur said

Bittu and the three other Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leaders were arrested in the same case of Gogoi, he added.

Manash Konwar another KMSS leader arrested along with them was on Monday granted bail by the Special NIA court here and was released from the jail on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Special NIA Court had granted bail to Gogoi on March 17 and subsequently to others after the investigating agency failed to file a charge sheet against him within the specified period of 90 days. However, the Gauhati High Court later stayed the bail.

On May 29, the NIA filed the charge sheet against Gogoi and three of his colleagues for sedition and terror activities for their alleged role in violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December last year.

In the midst of anti-CAA protests, Gogoi was arrested on December 12 last year from Jorhat as a "preventive measure" in view of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and his colleagues were taken into custody the next day.

The case was handed over to the NIA with the issuance of an order by the Union Home Ministry on December 14. Gogoi, the Adviser of KMSS, tested positive for COVID-19 inside Guwahati Central Jail on July 11 and was shifted to GMCH for treatment.

Sonowal and Dhaijya Konwar have also tested positive and are being treated at GMCH, while Manash Konwar tested negative.

PTI