Fourteen people have been arrested from different places in Assam for their social media posts supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Assam police informed on Saturday that the arrests were made since Friday, and all of them have been booked under different sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, IT Act and CrPC.
A senior police officer said in Guwahati that they were on alert and monitoring social media for inflammatory posts. The arrests are made from as many as ten states in the state. Two people each were arrested from Kamrup Metropolitan, Barpeta, Dhubri and Karimganj districts. While one person each was arrested from Darrang, Cachar, Hailakandi, South Salmara, Goalpara and Hojai districts, the Assam police informed.
Reportedly, the arrested persons include several maulanas. A medical student named Nadim Akhtar Laskar also has been arrested, who is studying MBBS at the Tezpur Medical College. Laskar was arrested from his home in Hailakandi district.
Some others arrested have been identified as Majibuddin and Martuja Hussain Khan from Karimganj district, Majidul Islam and Farukh Hussain Khan from Barpeta district, Saeed Ahmed and Arman Hussain from Dhubri, Khandakar Noor Alam from South Salmara, Maulana Yasin Khan from Goalpara, Maulana Badaruddin Laskar from Hojai, Maulana Faisul Karim from Darrang, Afga Khan and Saidul Haque from Kamrup, and Javed Majumder from Cachar.
They have posted various comments and videos on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook hailing the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The arrested persons are being interrogated by the police to find out any possible link with the Islamist group.
Violet Baruah, Deputy Inspector General of Assam Police, tweeted that the Assam Police is taking stern legal action against pro-Taliban comments on social media that are harmful to national security. “We’re registering criminal cases against such persons. Please inform the police if any such thing comes to your notice,” she added.
Assam police have also obtained information of three persons from the state staying outside India who have supported the Taliban.