In Assam, 50 arrested since Pahalgam for posts police say ‘pro-Pakistan’

The number of those arrested by Assam Police as part of the state’s crackdown on what it calls “Pakistan sympathisers” in the wake of the Pahalgam attack has touched 50 — from students held after complaints by ABVP members to a 25-year-old traced and arrested from Telangana over a Facebook post.

The first of these arrests was made on April 24, when AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam was picked up by police under section 152 of the BNS for statements in a political rally allegedly suggesting that the attack was a “conspiracy” by the central government.

Section 152, which pertains to “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”, has been invoked in many of the cases. Assam CM has also said that district administrators were given the power to invoke the National Security Act against “repeat offenders”.

Uploading regular updates on X after every few arrests, Sarma has referred to the accused as “traitors defending Pakistan on Indian soil”. The 50 arrests have been made across 21 districts, and include one woman. Five of the arrests were made after Operation Sindoor had commenced.

The highest number of arrests, 7, is from the Cachar district in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley. SP Numal Mahatta, said a social media monitoring cell in his office is tracking social media posts.

“While some of the posts have been detected by this cell, the Cyberdome in the Assam police headquarters is also alerting. There are also three cyber police outposts in Assam: one in , one in Dibrugarh and one here in Cachar, which we are observing closely,” he said.

Several social media users have also tagged Assam Police, flagging posts and comments on social media or highlighting screenshots. One such post was on by an individual named Ajibor Rahman. After police were tagged under a post by him on April 24, he was arrested by Barpeta police 10 days later, from Lakshmipur, Telangana.

“He had made statements which were derogatory and hurt religious sentiments. We identified him as a 25-30-year-old resident of Barpeta who was in Telangana for his livelihood. We sent a team to Telangana and arrested him. We have identified and arrested four such people so far and are on the lookout for more such posts,” said Barpeta SP Sushanta Biswa Sarma.

Accused have been identified through other means as well. Two students in the Barak Valley — one studying Computer Science in Assam University Silchar, and another, aged 20, studying in SS College, Hailakandi — were arrested following complaints filed by the ABVP. One was over a Facebook post, and the other over a comment. “The moment our members found out about these posts, they went to the police and filed formal complaints,” said Tushar Bhomik, Joint Organising Secretary, ABVP Assam.

Others on the list of 50 include 25-year-old Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, a reporter with a local Bengali newspaper, and Anil Bania, an activist with the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti, the youth wing of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti. The sole woman on the list, Dimple Borah, is a former journalist who runs a crafts business in Guwahati.

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