The spokesman for the Assam Congress, Reetam Singh, was arrested on Saturday by a publication on social networks that questioned the legal status of cases against three high -ranking leaders of BJP, which caused a political storm in the state. Singh was arrested from his home in Guwahati for a team of the Lakhimpur police, assisted by the Guwahati police.
Lakhimpur’s police superintendent, Mihirjit Gayan, confirmed the arrest, stating that he followed a complaint from the BJP Mla Manab Deka wife with respect to a Singh post made in X (previously Twitter) two days ago.
The controversial publication
On March 13, Singh shared a news report on three people convicted in a 1921 rape case in the Dhemaji district and asked if BJP leaders Manab Deka, the former Assam BJP chief, Bhabsh Kalita, and former minister Rajen Gohain, who was referring as “accused” violation “in his position, would also face justice.
“Is the law the same for everyone?” Singh wrote, labeling the official handle of BJP Assam.
Kalita, who resigned as president of Assam BJP in January, is a MLA along with Deka, while Gohain previously served as a railroad minister in the first mandate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
High drama arrest, Congress calls it “political sells”
The arrest of Singh met resistance. Initially he refused to leave his residence, claiming that no court order or legal warning was delivered. The images shared on social networks showed a strong police presence outside their Ulubari apartment.
The deputy of Congress Gaurav Gogoi hastened to the house of Singh, accusing the police to drag him while refusing to let him speak.
“A Lakhimpur police team came to Guwahati to take the spokesman for Congress @Singhreetam. When I got to his residence, I saw how it was brutally dragged and not allowed to speak, ”Gogoi wrote in X.
He linked the arrest with the visit of the Interior Minister of the Union, Amit Shah, to Assam the same day, asking if Shah was aware of what he called “the misuse of the police” under the main minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“The BJP government is arrested opposition leaders, while BJP’s thugs who hit two Assam agents in broad daylight roam freely,” Gogoi claimed.
Singh calls “illegal” arrest
Before being carried, Singh published police photos outside his home, stating that they had no legal motives to arrest him.
“I showed them the recent judgment of the Superior Court of Gauhati that required the police to deliver a notice before an arrest. I am a defender and I will fulfill any investigation, but I will not go if this is a politically motivated act, ”Singh wrote.
He also referred to a ruling of March 7 by Judge Mridul Kumar Kalita, stating that any arrest without prior notice would be contempt of court.
BJP still to answer
As Congress intensified its attack against the Assam’s government, the BJP has not yet issued a statement about the arrest of Singh. However, the sources in the party dismissed the statements of the opposition, describing it as “attempt to protect the defamation under freedom of expression.”
Singh is being taken to Lakhimpur for more legal procedures.