GUWAHATI, 29 Mar: Arrested Assam journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder was released from judicial custody on Saturday, a day after a court granted him bail in a second case, his lawyer said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had earlier claimed that Mozumdar was not a “recognised” reporter as per the government norms, maintained that he has no problem with any scribe writing against him, but if a journalist “engages in other activities, law is equal for all.”
Mozumdar was first arrested by the Guwahati police on Tuesday midnight in connection with a case filed by a bank employee when he had gone to cover a protest against alleged financial irregularities in the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited.
He was granted bail in the case on Wednesday but was arrested again immediately upon release the next day in a second case filed by the managing director of the bank, Dambaru Saikia, for allegedly attempting to steal valuable bank documents.
The chief reporter of the digital portal ‘The Crosscurrent’ obtained bail in the second case on Friday and was released after spending the night in judicial custody at the end of legal formalities, his lawyer said.
The arrest of Mozumdar, who is also the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, had sparked nationwide protests by journalists as well as other organisations, with questions raised on the manner of apprehension of the scribe.
Protests were staged in different parts of the state on Saturday, including ones by the Congress, Raijor Dal and a conglomerate of Left parties, against the alleged infringement of freedom of press.
Effigies of the chief minister were burned at various places, including in Guwahati, by the opposition parties.
Sarma said that journalism is a noble profession, but it should not be mixed with others.
He maintained that he has no problem with any journalist writing against him and said, “Much has been written against me since 2001, when I first became a minister. But I visit the journalists who write against me, try to be with them in case of illness or any problem.”
“But if a journalist engages in other activities, law is equal for all. If, as chief minister, tomorrow I grab other’s land, I will also be arrested. Law is equal for all,” he asserted.
Sarma also maintained that BJP governments are the only ones which do not react to anything written against them.
“We greet with a smile those who write against us,” he added.
Sarma had said on Thursday that no scribe had been arrested and asserted that digital journalists are not recognised by the state government.
He claimed that none of the cases against Mozumdar were related to journalism, and that it was yet to be established whether the scribe was a businessman or a part-time journalist. (PTI)