'After Bangladesh, it's time for India': Assam youth arrested for social media post

Guwahati: A youth from Assam’s Hailakandi district was arrested for a social media post claiming that India will soon face a situation similar to the unrest in Bangladesh, officials said on Friday.

The arrested individual is identified as Rezuwan Ulla Mazarbhuiya. He was taken into custody by Hailakandi Police from his residence at ward number 5 in Rangpur under Lala Police Station.

Mazarbhuiya’s Facebook post (in Bengali language mentioned): “After Bangladesh, now it's time for India. Bangladesh's impact will soon be witnessed in Assam.”

In subsequent comments to his post, the youth also mentioned links to terror outfit Al-Qaeda.

His post soon caught the attention of police and he was taken into custody on Thursday night. Mazarbhuiya has been questioned for his social media posts along with the mention of links with the banned militant organisation.

A senior police official said: “We have been looking into all aspects of this case. Further investigation is underway.”

Earlier, Chief Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the unrest in Bangladesh is a deep concern for the northeast as the neighbouring country once acted as a safe haven for the terrorist organisations active in the northeastern region of India.

He said: “We have seen in the past that Bangladesh acted as a safe haven for many terror outfits that are operative in Assam and other states of the northeast. The situation changed during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina government in the neighbouring country for the last 15 years. As Bangladesh has been going through unrest at this time, we are deeply concerned as the outlawed organisations might take advantage of this situation and they may gain strength.”

The Chief Minister, however, exuded confidence that the Indian government would take proactive steps to ensure security in the northeastern region by delivering dialogues with the new interim government in Bangladesh.