Assam Lecturer Arrested For Criticizing Government Of 'Trying To Recreate Godhra In Delhi'

A college lecturer from Assam's Cachar district was arrested over a social media post where he expressed his views on the Delhi riots and also criticised the Narendra Modi-led government on Friday, February 28.

25-year-old Souradeep Sengupta was arrested by the Assam Police following a complaint by the students of Silchar's Gurcharan College.

Cachar Superintendent of Police, Manabendra Debroy, while addressing the media informed that the lecturer has been sent to judicial custody till Monday.

The officer further explained that Sengupta had allegedly expressed his views on the communal violence that shook the national capital, hinting at a BJP-RSS scheme to "recreate the Godhra in Delhi."

In one of the social media posts, he also attacked the Sanatan Dharma where he was accused by the followers of hurting the religious sentiments.

Sengupta was arrested under three sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66A of the Information Technology Act that encapsulates punishment for sending offensive messages through a computer resource or a communication service.

The IPC sections slapped against him include Section 153A and 295A.

Section 153A deals with the offence of promoting disharmony or enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony while Section 295A includes deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

The complaint said Sengupta, who taught Physics in the college as a guest faculty, "Made derogatory remarks and abused the Sanatan Dharma as a whole from the last couple of days. He also alleged the prime minister of the nation as a mass murderer and tried to incite communal violence by making inflammatory comments against the Hindu community in the context of the recent Delhi riots," reported Outlook.

Reportedly, on Thursday, February 27, a segment of the college students started a social media campaign demanding his termination. Later in the day, the lecturer took to Facebook to post an apology.

"I apologise for any religious sentiments I may have hurt by my posts. I made some irresponsible comments about a communally sensitive issue. It was a lapse of judgement. My intention was not to insult any religion at large," he wrote.

However, on Friday, the students met the college principal demanding his termination.

Sengupta's family said that a mob of over 50 men gathered at their residence on Friday evening and asked: "what kind of Hindus" they were after they could not find any images of god.

The Indian Express reported that the mob chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and refused to leave until he apologized on Facebook Live

The police arrived and took him to the station citing reasons for his safety. Eventually, he was arrested

Sengupta's mother was "disturbed by the sequence of events" and was frightened by the behaviour of the mob, reported The Print.

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