AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam detained under NSA for 'defending' Pak in J&K terror attack

Nagaon: Opposition AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam's Nagaon for allegedly defending Pakistan and its complicity in the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said on Thursday.

The three-time MLA was arrested on April 24 on sedition charges after he made "misleading and instigating statements in public, which went viral and had the potential to create an adverse situation".

Islam was released on bail on Wednesday, but was instantly detained from Nagaon Central Jail under the stringent NSA for the same charges and lodged at the same place, Nagaon SP Swapnanil Deka said.

The police officer declined to share further details, stating that the case is under investigation.

Commenting on the development, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "The Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Nagaon has placed Shri Aminul Islam, MLA from Dhing, under preventive detention under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980.

"This decision follows a report from the Superintendent of Police, Nagaon, highlighting the MLA's provocative public speech during a panchayat election campaign and the circulation of a video in which he allegedly made baseless and inflammatory claims linking the Pahalgam terror attack to a government conspiracy." Another senior police officer said the NSA dossier referred to 23 previous cases registered against the MLA.

Islam was initially sent to four days of police remand, and then to judicial custody. Since April 29, he has been lodged in jail.

In the viral video shot during the panchayat poll campaign by Islam on April 23, the Dhing MLA was heard alleging that the Pahalgam and Pulwama attacks were perpetrated by conspirators who want to polarise the country on communal lines.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) distanced itself from the legislator's comments, stating that the views were his own and not of the party.

Terrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on April 22, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others.

On February 14, 2019, 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Islam was earlier arrested by Assam Police in April 2020 for making "objectionable" remarks about the condition of quarantine facilities and hospitals treating COVID 19 patients, allegedly calling them worse than detention centres.

At least 61 people, including the AIUDF MLA, have been arrested across Assam for their alleged pro-Pakistan stand following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, the chief minister said on Wednesday.