Assam MLA held for remarks calling COVID 19 hospitals worse than detention centres

Guwahati: An opposition MLA in Assam has been arrested for saying quarantine facilities and hospitals COVID 19 patients are worse than detention centres.

Aminul Islam, the All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF) legislator from Dhing constituency, was taken into custody early this morning after a preliminary interrogation, director-general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told PTI.

An audio clip containing a telephonic conversation, purportedly between Islam and another person, had been circulated on social media in which the lawmaker was heard talking disparagingly about quarantine facilities and hospitals.

He purportedly said the living conditions there were worse than those at the detention centres.

Hundreds of suspected illegal migrants, many of them Muslim, are currently lodged in the detention centres in Assam because their names were included in the updated National Register of Citizens.

Mahanta said Aminul Islam faces a case under several sections of the Indian Penal Colde for criminal conspiracy and spreading disaffection between communities, among others.

The police chief said the Assam speaker has been informed about the arrest of the MLA.