Arrested Assam journalist granted bail in second case

Guwahati: Arrested Assam journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder was granted bail by a court on Friday, a day after he was re-arrested in a second case immediately after his release on bail in the first case filed by a bank official when he had gone to cover a protest against financial irregularities in the institution.

Mozumder was granted bail by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Hirak Jyoti Das on a surety of Rs 20,000.

The Chief Reporter of the digital portal 'The Crosscurrent' will, however, stay in judicial custody for the night as it was late for the formalities to be completed.

His lawyers said that the formalities for furnishing the bond will be done on Saturday.

Mozumder was rearrested in a case filed by the managing director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited D Saikia on Tuesday, which was not disclosed to his family and lawyers earlier, for allegedly attempting to steal valuable bank documents.

The complainant had alleged that when the bank employees noticed the accused, they raised an alarm, causing the accused to flee the scene.

During the incident, the accused disturbed the bank's operations, threatened the employees, and made caste-based derogatory remarks towards the security guard, who belongs to the ST community, and a case was registered in the Panbazar police station for criminal trespass, mischief causing loss or damage criminal intimidation,"robbery" as a type of theft or extortion involving threats or actual harm and voluntarily causing hurt under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The police took Mozumder to his residence twice in the morning and seized some documents.

Mozumder was initially arrested on Tuesday midnight after being detained for over nine hours by the police after he had questioned the managing director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited about alleged financial irregularities in the institution during a protest programme here by the students' wing of a political party.

Mozumder, who is also the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, was first arrested under Section 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for criminal intimidation or the act of threatening someone to harm them or force them to do something, read with relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

He was granted bail for a surety of Rs 20,000 but was not released the same day as the formalities could not be completed and he was sent to judicial custody.

His lawyers waited the whole day on Thursday to complete the formalities for his release but when the bond was furnished, police rearrested Mozumder in connection with the second case and whisked him away from Guwahati Central Jail to Panbazar police station.

The Gauhati Press Club (GPC), in an emergent executive meeting, decided to protest Mozumder's arrest and all journalists will wear black badges at their workplaces while performing their duties from Friday to Sunday.

It was also decided that a general meeting of all journalists will be held to discuss the issue of 'Safety of Journalists' and a memorandum will be prepared to submit to appropriate authorities, according to a GPC statement.

The Press Club of India (PCI), in a statement, expressed 'shock' at the re-arrest of the senior digital media journalist and also concern that an attempt was made to shift the attention from the core issue — that of preventing a journalist from carrying out his official duty which is a grave infringement of the freedom of press guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution.

The Assam Women Journalists’ Forum (AWJF) also condemned the rearrest of Mozumder in a second case after he was granted bail in the first by a Gauhati court following his arrest on Tuesday midnight.

The AWJF expressed concern that a narrative is being used to undermine journalists who might not fit into the government’s definition of a 'legitimate' journalist, with some sections also attempting to malign certain journalists, including women media persons, a statement issued by the forum said.

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) also condemned the ''vindictive arrest and re-arrest'' of Mozumder and congratulated Assam journalists for organising protests demanding his release.