The Assam Police on Monday booked Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a day after the state Cabinet called for an “extensive inquiry” to determine whether his activities were part of a “larger conspiracy” against India.

Sheikh is an advisor to Pakistan’s Planning Commission.

The state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s wife, British citizen Elizabeth Coleburn, has ties to Sheikh and Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

“Pursuant to the registration of the case…Assam Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote in a post on X.

The first information report against Sheikh invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to alleged comments he made about India’s internal affairs and parliamentary matters. The FIR claimed they were aimed at disrupting communal harmony and the nation’s interests.

On Sunday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that his Cabinet had passed a resolution directing the director general of police to file a case against Sheikh.

The resolution, posted by Sarma on social media, claimed that Sheikh and Coleburn had been part of a global climate action group – the Climate and Development Knowledge Network – which operated in both India and Pakistan.

“Apart from his engagements with the Government of Pakistan, Ali Sheikh has also founded LEAD Pakistan, a non-profit organisation, working in the field of climate change,” the resolution said. “Smt Elizabeth Gogoi, a British national, was an integral part of LEAD Pakistan during her time spent in Islamabad.”

It also said that Sheikh’s social media activity included “exhaustive commentary on India’s internal affairs and parliamentary matters, raising serious concerns on the said individual’s intention to compromise and damage India’s interests”.

In addition to the FIR, the resolution said that it had ordered an inquiry to “ascertain whether these activities are part of a larger conspiracy and to identify any sympathisers or associates within Assam and across India who may be aiding Mr Sheikh’s anti-India agenda”.

It said that the inquiry may investigate Sheikh’s network within Assam and India, and examine individuals and organisations based in the country who have aided and abetted his actions.

The inquiry may seek assistance and information from the Union and state governments, it added.

The resolution also noted that the Cabinet had decided not to register any case against Gogoi or Coleburn in view of the allegations against them, The Indian Express reported.

On Monday, Sarma said on X: “In pursuance of the Cabinet decision taken yesterday, Assam Police has lodged an FIR and the same had been registered as CID PS Case No 05/2025 U/S 48/152/61/197(1) BNS, 2023 RW Sec.13(1) UA(P) Act against Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and unknown others.”

On Friday, Gogoi said that the BJP had taken “extreme steps to defame” him and his family and added that he would be taking legal action. “Their allegations are malicious and baseless,” he said.