CM Sarma: Govt does not recognize web portal journalists
Guwahati, March 27: Journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar, assistant general secretary of the Guwahati Press Club and a reporter for The Cross Current, was re-arrested by the Guwahati City Police on Thursday evening, moments after securing bail in his first case.
Mozumdar, who had been in Guwahati Central Jail, was taken directly to Panbazar Police Station by a police team following his release. His second arrest stems from Panbazar PS Case No. 111/25, which includes charges under Sections 329, 324(4), 351(2), 309(4), and 115 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)—all of which are bailable offences.
Mozumdar was initially arrested in connection with Case No. 110/25, filed under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, as well as Sections 351(2) and 3(1)(r) of the BNS. Although the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kamrup Metro granted him bail, he remained in custody overnight due to procedural delays in submitting the bail bond.
Upon his release on Thursday evening, police immediately took him into custody again, citing a fresh complaint filed by Dambaru Saikia, Managing Director of Assam Co-operative Apex Bank Ltd. According to the complaint, Mozumdar allegedly trespassed into the bank’s head office on March 25, attempting to steal sensitive documents while disrupting operations, threatening employees, and making caste-based derogatory remarks against a security guard belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.
Human rights activist and Mozumdar’s lawyer, AS Toppadar, strongly condemned the arrest, calling it a “blatant example of police high-handedness” and an “arbitrary and illegal detention.”
“This disturbing trend is transforming Assam into a police state, which is detrimental to democratic principles. We will vigorously challenge this injustice in court,” Toppadar said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stirred further controversy by stating that the Assam government does not officially recognize journalists working for web portals or YouTube channels.
“The government only recognizes journalists from print and electronic media, not digital platforms,” Sarma declared. He clarified that the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) does not register, accredit, or issue ID cards to digital media personnel.
“Dilwar Hussain is not a journalist in the eyes of the state,” Sarma emphasized, adding that no web portals had ever approached the government for accreditation. However, he indicated that the Guwahati Press Club’s stance on the matter could influence future decisions regarding digital media recognition.
In a provocative remark, Sarma suggested that if traditional media journalists vouched for Mozumdar, he could be released immediately.
Mozumdar’s case has sparked a heated debate on press freedom and the status of digital media in Assam. His back-to-back arrests and the Chief Minister’s comments have raised concerns among journalists and civil rights activists about the shrinking space for independent journalism, particularly in the digital sphere.
