The Assam Police on Tuesday detained a retired school principal in Cachar district for a comment on social media suggesting a connection between the blast in Delhi and elections, The Indian Express reported.
On Monday evening, a car exploded near the Red Fort metro station. While the cause of the blast is not yet clear, the police have filed a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Explosives Act.
A day later, Nazrul Islam Barbhuiyan, a resident of Durgapur in Cachar and the former principal of Banskandi NMHS School, allegedly commented on a Facebook post about the blast, saying: “Election is coming”, The Assam Tribune reported.
The comment appeared to be referring to the Bihar Assembly elections, the final phase of which was held on Tuesday, a day after the Delhi blast.
Cachar Assistant Superintendent of Police (Crime) Rajat Kumar Pal confirmed Barbhuiyan’s detention and alleged that the man had “tried to give a political angle” to the incident, The Indian Express reported.
“Yesterday, there was a very big blast in Delhi, which is being investigated by various agencies,” the newspaper quoted Pal as saying. “This is national news. Some people are trying to misuse and politicise this news, because of which divisions can be created among different communities.”
This could lead to an increase in chances of communal incidents, the officer said.
Pal said that the social media cell of the police was alerted about the comment made by Barbhuiyan, adding that the man had been apprehended and was being questioned on his motive behind it.
Cachar Senior Superintendent of Police Partha Protim Das told The Assam Tribune that the retired principal’s comments were inappropriate given the gravity of the national security situation, adding that the intent behind the post was being examined.
“Social media posts will be under surveillance,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Barbhuiyan’s detention came hours after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the state government was ready to renew its social media crackdown, which it had conducted after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April, The Indian Express reported.
On Wednesday, Sarma said that after the Delhi blast, the police in Assam arrested five persons for spreading “offensive and inflammatory content online”.
Those arrested were identified as Mattiur Rahman from Darrang, Hassan Ali Mondal from Goalpara, Abdul Latif from Chirang, Wajhul Kamal from Kamrup and Nur Amin Ahmed from Bongaigaon.
“Assam Police will continue to act swiftly and firmly against anyone misusing social media to spread hatred or glorify terror,” the chief minister added.
In April, after the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 persons dead and 17 injured, about 97 persons had been arrested in Assam for their social media posts about the incident.
On Tuesday, Sarma said that “after the Pahalgam incident, and even yesterday [Monday], we saw one set of people either appreciating this incident [Delhi blast] or posting some emojis with a lot of joy,” The Indian Express reported.
He added: “That means that these people support terrorists. We have been conducting background checks on these people since last night. And if required, we will arrest some people too.”
The chief minister said that he had directed the police to check who these persons were and where they came from. “If they are from Assam, we have to arrest them,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
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