17 held so far for posts lauding Delhi blast: CM

Guwahati: Assam has taken a zero-tolerance approach against those making “offensive” social media posts following the blast near Red Fort in New Delhi on Monday, said CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday, adding that 17 people have been arrested so far.Speaking to the media on Thursday, he said, “We have arrested 17 people who have directly or indirectly lauded the Delhi bomb blast. We are examining over 100 social media posts right now. Wherever we have seen a clear connection or clear encouragement towards terrorism, we have arrested them. We’ll continue arresting individuals found making such social media posts until we crack the entire ecosystem in Assam.”Fresh arrests were made since Wednesday night. The new arrestees are Rafijul Ali of Bongaigaon, Forid Uddin Laskar of Hailakandi, Inamul Islam of Lakhimpur, Firuj Ahmed alias Papon of Lakhimpur, Shahil Shoman Sikdar alias Shahidul Islam of Barpeta, Rakibul Sultan of Barpeta, Nasim Akram of Hojai, Taslim Ahmed of Kamrup, and Abdur Rohim Mollah alias Bappy Hussain of South Salmara.The chief minister on Wednesday said he instructed the police to arrest those who welcomed the blast in their social media posts.He said 35 people from different districts of the state were identified in this connection. “We will investigate their links, and if we find that anyone has links with Bangladesh or any other country, we will take very tough action against them,” the CM added.Minors and those who were unaware that their devices were used to make such posts will not be arrested, but those responsible will not be spared, he added.