Assam courts find UAPA cases on Taliban posts not standing, 14 get bail

Gauhati: Local courts in Assam granted bails to 14 who were among the 16 people arrested in August for allegedly posting supportive statements in regards to the Taliban's taking over Afghanistan. One of the arrests were made under UAPA making bail procedure difficult, though the courts said that the posts alone are not enough to book them under the stringent law.

Assam Special DGP (Law and Order) G P Singh, with the go-ahead signal from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, arrested 16 people in August under the stringent laws. The CM was reported to have directed the Police to take action without fear and favour.

Granting bail to Maulana Fazlul Karim Qasimi, a former AIUDF general secretary from Sipajhar in Darrang district, the Gauhati High Court said that the Facebook post, he was alleged to have posted, was not alone enough for him to be arrested under the UAPA. In the absence of other incriminating materials, the HC concluded that the further detention of the accused was uncalled for in this case.

According to The Indian Express report, Saidul Hoque's, a constable with the 21st Assam Police (IR) Battalion, 'Congratulations Taliban' post on Facebook was what led him to prison. The post was referred to as 'Most Incriminating Message' in the FIR against Hoque and his lenience towards terrorists' activities. However, the HC observed that prime facia the material available in the case against the constable did not constitute a cognizable offence.

One of the senior lawyers who run the cases in the High Court said that most of the cases registered in connection with the Taliban posts were unintentional which did not have the weight to be booked under stringent laws like the UAPA.

Jawed Husain Mazumder (30), Faruk Husain Khan (32), Mozidul Islam (25), Arman Hussain (25), medical student Nadim Akhtar Laskar (23), retired maulana Basiruddin Laskar (65) and Maqbool Alam got bail at the initial stage ('motion stage') itself, from Gauhati High Court judge Hitesh Kumar Sarma. The court said it did not find anything that required "further custodial detention".

Yaseen Khan, a maulana, the only one not booked under the UAPA, was released on bail on September 15, confirmed Goalpara SP V V Rakesh Reddy.