War of words between CM Himanta and Gogoi intensifies, controversy erupts over Congress MP's visit to Pakistan:

News Topical, Digital Desk : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's comparison of his visit to Pakistan with that of BJP stalwarts like LK Advani was like comparing "apples and oranges".

Counter-attacking, Gogoi claimed that the chief minister was resorting to "baseless personal attacks, political drama and smear campaigns". Gogoi said he had followed all official protocols since he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2014.

Himanta made allegations against Gogoi

Himanta and the BJP have been accusing Gogoi, the Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, of having links with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

The chief minister on Sunday alleged that Gogoi had visited Pakistan on the invitation of the ISI, received "training" there and worked with the neighbouring country's government.

Gogoi hit back at CM Himanta

Hitting back at Himanta, Gogoi on Tuesday said that many senior BJP leaders have also visited the neighbouring country earlier and the central government is fully aware of their visit to Pakistan. Responding to this, Himanta said, "Be it Jaswant Singh, LK Advani or Narendra Modi, they went publicly on government duty."

Student Rezaz accused of having links with people from Pakistan is under investigation

Investigation is being carried out into the case of student activist Rezaz M. Sheeba Siddiqui, arrested in Nagpur under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The ATS has found that he was in contact with six phone numbers from Pakistan.

Officials are now investigating whether these contacts have any links to terrorist groups. An ATS official said these numbers were recovered from Siddique's mobile phone. Efforts are on to identify the persons associated with him.

An officer said this

The official said that if any of the contacts are confirmed to be linked to terrorism, national agencies will take over the investigation. Siddique, who hails from Kerala, was arrested by the Lakadganj police from a hotel in Nagpur on May 7.