Assam Cong leader Ripun Bora summoned by police in Gaurav Gogoi's 'Pak link' case

Guwahati, May 28 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora has been summoned by Assam Police for questioning in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan, officials said.

A police officer told PTI that Bora has received the notice, which asked him to present himself on Thursday before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case.

"I am shocked and surprised to receive a notice from the CID because I countered the false allegations of CM @himantabiswa regarding @GauravGogoiAsm's Pakistan links. This is an attempt to harass me, intimidate me and suppress my voice!" Bora said in a series of posts on X.

He said that as a law-abiding citizen, he has decided to appear before investigating officers.

"If they send me to jail, I am ready to go to jail," the senior Congress leader said.

When asked about the notice, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference, said that it appears Bora "knows a lot" about Gogoi and his wife's Pakistan links.

"We only knew that she used to get a salary from an ISI agency. But now Bora publicly said that she got salaries from the Pakistan government. So, police have called him to question on the matter," said the CM, who also looks after the Home portfolio.

The SIT is probing a case of alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is claimed to have links with Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, in India's internal affairs.

Sheikh, an advisor of the Pakistan Planning Commission and a former colleague of Colburn, was charged under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhtia (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

On Sunday, Bora, in a press conference, claimed that Sarma is trying to portray Gogoi as an ISI agent only because the BJP leader knows that the ruling government will decisively lose the 2026 assembly elections if the parliamentarian is made the CM candidate of the opposition party.

"She might have visited Pakistan or got a salary for her work from Pakistan, what's the problem in that? Likewise, many Pakistani people are working in India legally," he had said.

Following this, Sarma claimed that Bora made a "startling confession" that his party MP Gogoi's wife has been on the "payroll of the Pakistan government".

The Assam CM and the BJP have been attacking Lok Sabha MP Gogoi over his wife's alleged connection with Pakistan's spy agency ISI. He had claimed that Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn had travelled 19 times between India and Pakistan.

Sarma also alleged that Gogoi had visited Pakistan on an invitation from its spy agency ISI and undergone training there, and that he worked closely with the establishment of the neighbouring nation.

He further claimed that Colburn was collecting various classified government documents, mainly IB reports, on behalf of the Pakistani climate lobby.

Hitting back hard, Gogoi slammed Sarma over his accusation of the MP's alleged Pakistani links and questioned his mental state due to issues at the home front. He even said the CM's remarks were "ridiculous, baseless, insane and nonsense" and that he was behaving like an "IT cell troll" without talking with facts. PTI TR TR ACD