Guwahati: An opposition MLA in Assam was arrested on Tuesday for “controversial comments about the situations of quarantine facilities and hospitals for coronavirus patients” in the state, police said.
According to the police, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam had said that the conditions in the quarantine facilities are “worse than in detention centres for the people”.
The legislator, elected from the Dhing Legislative Assembly constituency in Assam’s Nagaon district and known for incendiary remarks in the past too, also had earlier accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam of “conspiring against Muslims”.
He also alleged that the medical staff at the quarantine centres have been harassing the people who had returned to Assam after attending from last month’s religious congregation at a mosque in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.
“The health staff were giving injections to healthy individuals to show them as sick and coronavirus patients,” he had alleged, as per the police.
Police first detained the MLA for questioning on Monday night and he was formally arrested on Tuesday morning.
As customary, police have also informed the Assembly Speaker of the development.
The AIUDF, a local party with a strong base among the Muslims, has 14 MLAs in the 126-member Assam Assembly.
