Assam police on Saturday registered a sedition case against Sharjeel Imam, believed to be one of the masterminds behind the ongoing anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitation at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi, for allegedly making provocative statements like asking the protesters to “cut” Assam from India.

The charges include sedition, prompting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, among others, and abetting unlawful activity.

In a video that has gone viral, Imam was seen saying that when Assam and the Northeast would be “cut” from India, then only the government would listen to the protesters. In the video, he said: “We can cut the Northeast from India permanently; if not permanently, then for at least for one-two months. Only when Assam is cut from India they (government) will listen to us.” He added the Muslims and Bengalis in Assam were subjected to harassment because of CAA.

Assam’s additional director-general of police (law and order), G.P. Singh, in a tweet said: “An FIR has been lodged against Imam for his speech and inter alia commission of offence under Section 13 (1)/18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, read with Sections 153 A, 153 B and 124A of the IPC at Guwahati crime branch police station.”

Immediately after the video went viral and the media started reporting Imam’s speech, Assam’s finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a news conference on Saturday morning said that the Assam government had already taken cognisance of the “seditious” statement and will register a case against him.

Sarma said: “His statement is a threat to the country and the state. A lot of wrong things have been said by him aiming to create law and order problems in Assam. He is seen inciting people and talking about his strategy to cut off Assam and the Northeast from the rest of India. We have taken cognisance and pursuing the matter to book this person as per law. We will bring this person to the court so that he is punished in accordance with the law.”

Preliminary reports said Imam, a former JNU student who hails from Bihar’s Jehanabad, had made the “controversial” speech at a protest last week.

Besides Assam police, a similar case has also been registered by Aligarh police. It was suspected that Imam is one of the prime organisers of the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) where thousands, especially women, are staging a protest since December 15.

In Assam too, protests against the CAA have been going on since December. Many anti-CAA protesters, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi and several others, were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.