At least 19 arrested across NE for ‘seditious’ remarks on Pahalgam terror attack

At least 19 people have been arrested across Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya by Saturday for allegedly making “seditious” remarks regarding the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead.

In Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said three more arrests had been made — one each from Hajo near Guwahati, Hailakandi, and Nagaon — bringing the total number of arrests in the state to 14. Meanwhile, four arrests were reported from Tripura and one from Meghalaya.

CM Sarma warned that stringent measures would be taken against anyone found directly or indirectly supporting Pakistan, including invoking the National Security Act (NSA) if necessary.

“If required, we will impose provisions of the National Security Act on them. We are examining all social media posts, and action will be taken against those who, we feel, are anti-national… There are no similarities between Bharat and Pakistan. The two countries are enemy nations and we must remain that way,” Sarma said.

Reiterating his stance on X, Sarma posted: “My job is clear — to come down hard on Pro-Pakistani and Pro-Bangladeshi elements in Assam and to take stringent action against them.”

The first arrest in Assam took place on Thursday, when Aminul Islam, an MLA from the opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), was detained and charged with sedition for claiming that the 2019 Pulwama attack and Tuesday’s Pahalgam attack were “government conspiracies.” On Friday, he was remanded to four days of police custody.

Detailing the developments on X, CM Sarma said: “Assam will not tolerate any individual who, directly or indirectly, supports or defends Pakistan in connection with the heinous attack in Pahalgam.”

Other individuals arrested in Assam until Friday included Md Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, Md AK Bahauddin and Md Javed Mazumder from Silchar, Md Mahahar Mia from Morigaon, and Md Sahil Ali from Sivasagar. Md Musta Ahmed alias Sahel was arrested from Karimganj for allegedly posting “Pakistan Zindabad” on Facebook.

Among those arrested, Hussain is a journalist, Bahauddin is a computer science student at Assam University, and Mazumder is a practicing lawyer.

On Saturday, police further apprehended 25-year-old Md Jarif Ali and Anil Bania, the district secretary of the student organization Satra Mukti Sangram Parishad, from Biswanath.

Separate arrests were also made: Sumon Mazumdar, also known as Bulbul Alom Mazumdar, was detained in Hailakandi, Mashud Azhar in Nagaon, and another individual near Hajo, close to Guwahati — all accused of posting “anti-India comments” online.

Meanwhile, in Cachar district, two more individuals were arrested for allegedly posting “content supporting Pakistan” on social media.

In Tripura, four people were arrested, including retired teachers Jawhar Debnath, Kuldip Mandal, and Sajal Chakraborty, for posting alleged “anti-national” comments about the Pahalgam incident. Another man, Jahirul Islam, was detained in Sonamura.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya police arrested 30-year-old Simon Shylla from East Khasi Hills district after he posted a controversial comment related to a news broadcast from Guwahati.

(With inputs from News18)

MT