Representative image of handcuffs used for an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Guwahati: Police in Assam arrested a journalist associated with a digital media outlet on Tuesday night hours after he questioned the managing director of Assam Co-Operative Apex Bank, a public sector bank, during a protest alleging a "huge scam" in the bank.
The journalist, Dilwar Hussain Mojumder, the chief reporter of The CrossCurrent, was called to Panbazar police station, situated near the protest site in Guwahati, at around 1pm on Tuesday.
He was detained and his family members were also not allowed to visit him till late in the evening. Police arrested him at around 11pm on Tuesday.
Journalists, who waited outside the police station, staged a protest about the way he was detained and arrested.
The protest Mojumder was covering was staged in front of the bank by Jatiya Yuva Shakti, a youth wing of Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional Opposition party.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is a director of the bank while BJP MLA, Biswajit Phukan is its chairman.
The Cross Current editor Arup Kalita told reporters that Mojumder got a call in his mobile phone from Panbazar police station after he questioned Dambaru Saikia, the MD of the bank about the allegations made by the protesters. He was detained after he visited the police station.
Journalists said he was asked by Saikia to visit his office for an official comment about the allegation.
Mojumder was charged under section 351 (2) of BNS (criminal intimidaiton) and section 3 (1) (r) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 (Amendment 2025) for allegedly using abusive language against another person belonging to a ST community.
Mojumder was granted bail by a court in Guwahati on Wednesday, where he was produced. But he is unlikely to be released as another case is pending against him.
Protest by journalists:
Members of Guwahati Press Club staged a protest in its premises on Wednesday against the way Mojumder was arrested while he was discharging his duty as a journalist. The Club later took a resolution demanding unconditional release of the journalist and sought steps to prevent similar "harassment" of journalists in the future.
"This is a direct attack on the journalist fraternity and rejection of the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution," senior journalist Sushanta Talukdar said at the Press Club protest programme. Press Club of India also condemned Mojumder's arrest and demanded his immediate release.