The District and Sessions Court in central Assam’s Nagaon has rejected the bail peal of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) lawmaker Aminul Islam, arrested on Tuesday for sedition. The court also prescribed quarantine for him in jail.
Also read | Assam MLA arrested for controversial statement on COVID-19 quarantine centres
Rejecting the bail petition, the court fixed April 18 as the next date of hearing. A similar petition was rejected on Tuesday, the day he was arrested.
Also read | Row over AIDUF MLA’s remarks on indigenous Muslims
Mr. Islam was arrested under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sedition, for making objectionable remarks through an audio clip over the COVID-19 pandemic. He had claimed that people being quarantined in Assam would be killed with an injection. He had also said the quarantine centres were worse than detention camps for illegal immigrants.
The Assam police have so far arrested 33 people for spreading false information over the pandemic. One of them is an Army soldier identified as Amal Das, who had recently returned home after undergoing training. He was arrested in Biswanath district for posting “provocative and communal” remarks on social media, police said.
