GUWAHATI: An Assam MLA, who claimed through an audio clip that people being quarantined will be killed with injection, was arrested by the police on Tuesday morning.
The MLA, Aminul Islam of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) who represents Dhing constituency in Nagaon district, had also said that the quarantine centres in Assam were worse than detention camps for illegal immigrants.
He was booked under IPC Sections 120b, 153a, 124a and 295a and would be produced in a court, the police said.
“The communal statements in the audio clip have the potential to cause enmity between two communities. The clip raises question marks on Government of India, Constitution and the secular fabrics of the country. There is a lot of wrong information in the clip,” Nagaon Superintendent of Police Gaurav Abhijit Dileep told journalists.
The SP said the MLA had admitted he made the audio, forwarded it to others and it was his voice.
“We have seized his mobile phone. He had forwarded the clip to many people. We will bring all of those in the gamut of our investigation and find out how many people were involved and if it was a conspiracy,” the SP said, adding the Speaker of the Assembly was “informed” prior to making the arrest.
In the audio clip, the MLA had said people were kept at the quarantine centres to be killed.
“The quarantine centres have been taken to a stage worse than the detention centres. In each room of the quarantine centres, there are 5-10 people. There is no mosquito repellent or mosquito net. Food is not served. There is no drinking water either. The health workers there said the persons don’t need these. They may be considered dead bodies,” Islam had said.
“Three people from Jagiroad (in Morigaon district) were taken to a hospital in Sonapur. I doubt they will be killed there with injection and they (government) will say they died of coronavirus. The persons are healthy and they are not infected with any virus. Such a conspiracy is going on,” he had said.
The three persons in questions, all of them linked to Tablighi Markaz congregation in Delhi, had tested positive for COVID-19, the government had said.
Islam had also said, “They (government) have not been able to kill people in the detention camps. They will do this here. People will be killed with injection and there won’t be any reaction. They came a month ago and none is a coronavirus patient.”
Earlier, he had claimed that only 1 per cent of the positive cases in India were linked to Tablighi Markaz. He had asserted that none from Assam attended the congregation. Of the 27 positive cases in the state, 26 were linked to the congregation.