All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam, who was arrested on April 24 over his remarks on the Pahalgam attack, was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on Wednesday, the same day he was granted bail in the sedition case.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that this decision followed 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.”
The MLA from Dhing was arrested on charges that included Section 152 of the BNS for statements made at a political rally, where he alleged that the suicide bombing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama in February 2019, and the killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam, were “conspiracies by the government.”
Though Islam got bail in the sedition case from a Nagaon court where he was produced on Wednesday, he was immediately detained under the National Security Act and is now being held again in Nagaon Central Jail.
The detention order, issued by Nagaon District Magistrate Narendra Kumar Shah, cites a police report which states that Islam “has been engaging in activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and the security of the state.”
The order further adds that the Magistrate is “satisfied that the said individual is likely to continue engaging in activities prejudicial to public order and the security of the state.” Accordingly, the District Magistrate directed that Islam be detained under Section 3(2) of the NSA and lodged in Nagaon Central Jail “with immediate effect.”
The National Security Act (NSA), enacted in 1980, is a stringent Indian law that allows the central or state government to keep individuals without formal charges or trial for up to 12 months, in preventive detention.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.