An Assam MLA, who claimed through an audio clip that people being quarantined will be killed with injection, was arrested by the police for sedition and other charges on Tuesday.
The police in central Assam’s Nagaon district said Aminul Islam, who represents the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) from the Dhing Assembly constituency, was arrested at 1 a.m. after Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami was informed.
He was booked under four Sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 124a dealing with sedition and 153a related to promoting or attempting to promote communal disharmony. He would be produced in a court, the police said.
Nagaon Superintendent of Police Gaurav Abhijit Dileep said the MLA confessed to making the audio clip containing objectionable statements and forwarding it.
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“The communal statements in the audio clip have the potential to cause enmity between two communities. The clip raises question marks on the Government of India, the Constitution and the secular fabric of the country. There is a lot of wrong information in the clip,” he told mediapersons.
“We have seized his mobile phone for ascertaining who the clip was forwarded to. We will bring all of those in the gamut of our investigation and find out how many people were involved and if it was a conspiracy,” Mr. Dileep said.
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In the audio clip, Mr Islam is heard saying people were being kept in quarantine centres to be killed. He said this in reference to some of the Tablighi Jamaat attendees who tested COVID-19 positive after returning to Assam.
“Three people from Jagiroad (in Morigaon district) were taken to a hospital in Sonapur. I doubt they will be killed there with injection and they (government) will say they died of coronavirus. The persons are healthy and they are not infected with any virus. Such a conspiracy is going on,” he said.
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Mr. Islam added: “The quarantine centres are worse than the detention centres. There are 5-10 people in each room. There is no mosquito repellent or mosquito net. The health workers there said the persons don’t need food and water. They may be considered dead bodies.”
AIUDF general secretary Champak Kalita said Mr. Islam’s arrest reeked of political vendetta and could have been made to pacify the radical followers of the ruling dispensation. “Expressing the anxiety of a community after the political colour given to the Delhi (Nizamuddin) development did not warrant arrest. The government has arrested a public representative to divert attention from its failure in handling the current situation leading to suicides and death due to starvation and forced migration,” he said.
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The State BJP welcomed the arrest. “His divisive statement will go against the government measures to bring people to the quarantine centres,” said Prasanta Phukan, the party’s MLA from Dibrugarh.
The Congress said Mr. Islam erred in making the controversial statement but advocated similar action against anyone making incendiary statements on social media.
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“Nobody should do communal politics with this disease. This is unfortunate. We all must extend our cooperation to the health department,” said Debabrata Saikia, the Congress Legislature Party chief.
