"Assam Police has not arrested any journalist in recent times," CM Sarma clarifies
Mar 27, 2025
Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 27 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday clarified that the state police have not arrested any journalist in recent times.
In a post on X, CM Sarma said, "It has come to my notice that some media houses have reported the arrest of a journalist by Assam Police. I would like to clarify that Assam Police has not arrested any journalist in recent times."
Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, raised concerns regarding the credentials of journalist Dilwara Hussain Mozumder, who was recently arrested.
During a press briefing with the Cabinet, CM Sarma questioned Mozumder's professional background, asking whether he was really a journalist or involved in business activities.
He pointed out that the media organisation Mozumder claims to be associated with is not officially recognised by the government.
Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika questioned the professional background of Dilwar Hussain Mozumder, the journalist arrested, in a tweet directed at the President and Secretary of the Guwahati Press Club.
In a post on X, Hazarika said, "Dear President/Secretary of Guwahati Press Club, will you kindly reveal if Dilwar Hussain is a practising advocate or a journalist or/ also a businessman?"
Journalists of the Guwahati Press Club staged a protest in Guwahati on Wednesday against the arrest of a journalist from an Assam-based digital news portal.
The journalists of Guwahati Press Club demanded the immediate release of the arrested journalist.
Dilwar Hussain Mozumder, the chief reporter of the digital news portal The Cross Current and Assistant General Secretary of the Guwahati Press Club, was arrested by Panbazar Police on Tuesday night.
According to the reports, earlier on Tuesday, Dilwar Hussain Mozumder was summoned by the Panbazar Police Station after he covered an agitation programme against the alleged financial irregularities of Assam Co-operative Apex Bank and questioned the MD of the bank over the alleged financial irregularities of the bank, and later, the police arrested him.
A case was registered at Panbazar Police Station in Guwahati against the journalist under Section of BNS and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Amendment 2015).
According to the police, Dilwar Hussain Mozumder misbehaved with a tribal security guard of the bank. The MD of the bank said that, he tried to steal documents of the bank.
On Wednesday, a local court granted Mozumder bail in one case.
