GUWAHATI: Four people, including research scholars, in Assam are under the scanner of the police for their alleged collection of donations in the name of National Register of Citizens (NRC), the final draft of which will be published on August 31.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police confirmed the receipt of complaints in this regard. Additional Director General of Police (CID), LR Bishnoi, told this newspaper that they were probing the charges.
“We have received very few complaints as regards criminal activities in the context of NRC. We have also received some complaints where it was alleged that some people are collecting donations in the name of NRC. We are conducting an enquiry,” Bishnoi said.
He said the police also had received complaints about some elements trying to provoke the Muslims in the state by cashing in on false reports circulated in the social media.
In a complaint lodged with him, RTI activist Dulal Bora alleged that the four people – Rehna Sultana, a PhD student from Gauhati University (GU); Sofiqul Islam, another student from GU; Mausami Chetia, a Hague-based PhD researcher; and one Ashraful Hussain, who is a social activist; were seeking donations from the public in the name of NRC.
“They are aggressively using social media to generate donations by creating panic in the minds of people. They are telling people that they would help them to include their names in the NRC final draft. They have created two bank accounts and are trying to reach people through social media,” Bora told this newspaper.
He requested the police to freeze the two bank accounts and confiscate the amount.
He alleged that the quartet was unnecessarily linking the NRC issue with the recent abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and comparing the hardship of the Muslims in Assam in the wake of the fresh notices served for re-verification of citizenship documents with that of the Kashmiris. He accused them of trying to create unrest in Assam in the lead up to NRC final draft publication.