SIT Questions British High Commission Staff on Gogoi's Links to Pakistan

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Assam Police on Sunday questioned two staffers of the British High Commission in Delhi in connection with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's alleged Pakistan links, according to a report by IANS.

According to police, the SIT team questioned the British High Commission staffers to retrieve information about their links with the Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh who has been named in an FIR by the Assam Police for his alleged role in destabilising communal harmony.  Sheikh is under the lens for his purported role in seeking key information related to national security.

Earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the Pak links of Gaurav Gogoi and his wife, has made progress in its initial investigation. He was quoted as saying, “The SIT has found significant evidence related to Pak national Ali Sheikh who has been in question for his multiple visits to India and his controversial social media posts expressing immense interest in the politics of Assam. Sheikh visited India with a big delegation from Pakistan including the attorney general of that country.”

According to CM Sarma, the Pak team, including Sheikh, made many visits to India till 2018 and stayed in small hotels to avoid public attention. “We have been probing the entire ecosystem related to this Pakistani national in question. If required, we will take the help of Interpol,” Sarma stated, adding that he has briefed the Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the developments.

Sarma last month raised questions about a meeting Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi held 10 years ago with the then Pakistan High Commissioner to India, and linked it to his wife Elizabeth Gogoi.

In a long post on X on February 13, Sarma said, “In 2015, the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Mr. Abdul Basit, invited a first-term Member of Parliament (MP) and his startup, Policy for Youth, to discuss India-Pakistan relations…Soon after, his startup published an article in The Hindu criticizing the Border Security Force’s handling of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. A closer examination of his parliamentary questions revealed a growing focus on sensitive defense matters…Interestingly, these developments occurred immediately after his marriage to a British citizen with a professional background that raises further questions.”