GUWAHATI: Over 5,000 Facebook and other social media accounts, operated mostly from abroad, have suddenly become active around the activities of the Assam Congress and a particular political leader, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
“They have hard contents – pro-Palestine, pro-Iran, pro-Muhammad Yunus. These people are hardcore Islamic fundamentalists,” Sarma said, addressing a press conference.
“Interestingly, they do not follow Rahul Gandhi or the Indian National Congress. They like the pages concerning the activities of the political leader and the Assam Congress,” he said.
Stating that the account holders are from a particular community, he said they were propagating the political party in the context of Assam. He added that the state government conducted a study on 2,092 accounts and the investigation is ongoing.
According to him, the accounts are being operated from 47 countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“Apart from the posts on Assam, their contents are mainly on fundamentalist Islamic ideology. These include annihilation of Israel and anti-India contents,” the Chief Minister said.
“Attempts are being made from both inside and outside Assam to disturb the atmosphere in the state. Social media has become a big weapon for some people,” he said.
He also mentioned that some accounts had been made private, but the government preserved their manual screenshots earlier.
“These 5,000 accounts were activated only for Assam elections. There was never such attempted foreign interference to influence Assam elections through social media,” Sarma said.
Meanwhile, he said the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) would cap the oil well from where natural gas has been leaking since 12 June.
“After exploring multiple approaches with great effort and precision, ONGC is now advancing with a more practical and safer strategy to cap the leak. Close to 50 per cent of the groundwork, such as site preparation and equipment mobilisation, has already been completed,” the Chief Minister said.
A team of experts from the United States is reaching the site on Friday evening to provide additional insights and support. Full-scale operations under the new plan are set to begin on Saturday.
The gas blowout affected over 330 families who have been evacuated to a safer place.