4 Assam journalists among 6 arrested for 'maligning' Himanta

Four journalists, including awoman, were among six persons arrested on Wednesday for theiralleged attempt to malign Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarmaafter they shared a photo of him along with his daughter witha ''salacious intent'', police said.

The minister's wife had filed a complaint with theDispur police station here under the POCSO Act, followingwhich the Guwahati City Police began probing the case.

Taufiquddin Ahmad, the Editor-in-Chief of local newswebsite 'Pratibimba Live', its News Editor Asif Iqbal Hussainand two other employees Nazmul Hussain and Nurul Hussain werearrested in Guwahati, police sources said.

They were produced before the court of the ChiefJudicial Magistrate, which remanded them to five days inpolice custody.

Two other journalists -- Nang Noyonmoni Gogoi of'Spotlight Assam' in Sibsagar and Puli Muchahary of 'BodolandTimes' -- have also been arrested in this connection, policesaid.

The minister alleged that this was a clear case ofpolitical conspiracy but to ''stoop so low and not spare evenmy minor daughter, reflects a very low mentality''.

''I have been attacked on all fronts by my opponentsbut when they failed to create any impact, they have adopted adifferent strategy to malign my character and I have beennoticing this recently,'' he told reporters.

Sarma said that the photograph posted with a malafideintent was disturbing and ''we could not sleep the wholenight''.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order)G P Singh said that the police would take strong actionagainst all such attempts under stringent provisions of thePOCSO Act, he said.

They were arrested on the basis of a case registeredwith the Dispur police station under IPC Section 509(intending to insult the modesty of any woman), and sections14 and 21 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, he said.

''Action shall be taken against all personsirrespective of their place of residence who use any of thesocial media platforms to maliciously use such platforms forfurthering this conspiracy,'' Singh added.

The website had shared a photo of the minister hugginghis daughter, following which it went viral on social media.

The website later apologised for not mentioning thatthe girl in the photo was the minister's daughter and blamedothers for sharing it with the intent to defame Sarma.

The news outlet faced backlash for the intent to sharethe photo in that manner, with Sarma retweeting it andmentioning that it was him and his daughter.

Police said they are investigating the matter toidentify those behind the post going viral.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)