At least eight people have been arrested by the Assam Police as part of an "intensified crackdown" against individuals who have "directly or indirectly" supported Pakistan after Tuesday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said.
Of the eight, six were arrested on Friday while the other two, including an MLA from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) - an opposition party in Assam - were taken into custody on Thursday.
"Assam will not tolerate any individual who, directly or indirectly, supports or defends Pakistan in connection with the heinous attack in Pahalgam," Mr Sarma wrote in a post on Friday, announcing six arrests.
As part of its intensified crackdown on individuals promoting anti-national sentiments, the @assampolice has made two additional arrests:
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 25, 2025
•Barpeta: Md. Jarif Ali (25), also known as Sharif Sing,
•Biswanath: Anil Bania, District Secretary of the Satra Mukti Sangram Parishad https://t.co/hwLlu2XfJm
Three hours later, he posted again, stating that two others have been arrested as part of the Assam Police's "intensified crackdown on individuals promoting anti-national sentiments".
The arrested include two people from Silchar and one each from Hailakandi, Morigaon, Sivasagar, Barpeta and Biswanath. Most of these people were arrested for social media posts after the attack
The arrested MLA, Md Aminul Islam, is from Naigaon.
Mr Islam was arrested on Thursday after he claimed that the Pulwama attack in 2019 and Tuesday's Pahalgam attack were "conspiracies by the government".
"On the basis of a misleading and instigating statement by Dhing MLA, Sh Aminul Islam in public, which went viral and had potential to create an adverse situation, NagaonPS Case 347/25 was registered for offences u/s 152/196/197(1)/113(3)/352/353 BNS. He has been arrested accordingly," the Assam Police said in a post on X.
AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal also distanced the party from Mr Islam's comments.
"It was not our statement. We have already cleared our statement and in this type of situation, we always stand with the government as united. The terrorists have no religion and those who spread terrorism are against Islam. They are defaming Islam and Muslims," Mr Ajmal said.
On Friday, Mr Islam was produced in court and sent to police custody for four days.
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