Guwahati: Assam govt on Thursday invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against land rights activist Pranab Doley, a day after a Golaghat sessions court granted him bail in a case linked to protests against a proposed luxury hotel near Kaziranga National Park.Doley, convener of the Greater Kaziranga land and human rights committee, was arrested on July 12 over a June 28 protest at Inglay Pathar. Activists have opposed the project, citing ecological concerns and potential displacement of indigenous communities.Police alleged that Doley and around 50 others entered the project site, armed with machetes and sharp sticks, and had tried to set a cement mixer ablaze, while assaulting police personnel and instigating the crowd.Granting him bail on Wednesday, the additional sessions judge observed that investigators had neither produced video evidence supporting the allegations nor seized any deadly weapons.However, before Doley could be released, the govt issued a preventive detention order under the NSA, based on a report by the Golaghat senior superintendent of police. The order cited 13 criminal cases against him and alleged his repeated involvement in unlawful assembly, rioting, intimidation, road blockades and damage to public property.It also alleged suspicious foreign transactions in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and raised questions about the funding of his foreign travel and related expenses.Earlier in the year, Doley had contested the assembly election from Bokakhat as an independent candidate and had addressed the United Nations Forum on business and human rights in Geneva last year.
