Journalist Dilwar Hussain's arrest: Clash between press freedom and legal action

The recent arrest of journalist and practicing lawyer Dilwar Hussain Mozumder has sparked a heated debate in Assam over press freedom, the treatment of media professionals and the very definition of who qualifies as a journalist.

- ABHIJIT DEB

Mozumder, associated with a news web portal and serving as the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, was first detained under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following an incident at the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank. Subsequently, he was rearrested on charges related to dacoity at the same institution.

The sequence of events began when Mozumder attempted to question the bank's managing director, Dambaru Saikia, regarding alleged irregularities during a protest organised by the Jatiya Yuva Shakti, the youth wing of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP). A video circulating on social media depicts Mozumder seeking answers about a purported recruitment scam, to which Saikia declined to respond.

Following this interaction, Mozumder was summoned to the Panbazar police station, detained and later formally arrested under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST Act.