Following the arrest of Dilawar Hussain, who works for a news portal in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma clarified that employees working for online news portal are not recognise as 'journalist'.
A Guwahati based journalist, Dilawar Hussain Mozumdar was detained under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday.
What Did The Chief Minister Say?
On Thursday, during a press conference when asked about the arrest of digital journalist Dilawar Hussain Mozumdar, CM said, "The State government's Directorate of Information and Public Relation (DIPR) does not officially recognize journalists working for portals of YouTube channels as recognised or accredited mediapersons," as quoted by PTI.
"The state government does not provide them with registrations, advertisements or identity cards and they do not qualify as journalists according to our norms. There has been no discussion on this issue and even the portals have not approached us for recognition", Sarma added.
It is yet to be established whether ''he is a businessman as he himself posted on Facebook that he owns dumpers or a part-time journalist', Sarma added.
''The arrested person is not a recognised reporter as the government only gives identity cards to journalists of print and electronic media'', he said.
Sarma later posted on 'X' that it has come ''to my notice that some media houses have reported the arrest of a journalist by Assam Police. I would like to clarify that Assam Police has not arrested any journalist in recent times''.
The Arrest
Dilawar Hussai Mozumdar, who is also the Assistant General Secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, was first arrested on Tuesday midnight under Section 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for criminal intimidation or the act of threatening someone to harm them or force them to do something, read with relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, reported PTI.
Dilawar was granted bail for a surety of Rs 20,000 but was rearrested on Thursday in a second case filed by the Managing Director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited D Saikia on Tuesday, which was not disclosed to his family and lawyers earlier, for allegedly attempting to steal valuable bank documents.
