The Assam Police on Tuesday arrested a journalist after a protest by Jatiya Yuva Shakti, the youth wing of the Assam Jatiya Parishad, against alleged financial irregularities in the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited, reported PTI.

Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar, a journalist with digital news outlet The CrossCurrent, had questioned the bank’s managing director, Dambaru Saikia, about the alleged financial mismanagement.

“Strangely, as he was leaving the bank, Mozumder got a call from the Pan Bazar police station, asking him to report at once,” Arup Kalita, editor of The CrossCurrent, told The Wire on Tuesday. “Upon reaching there, he was detained.”

Mozumdar was arrested for the alleged use of abusive and derogatory language “intended to demean and insult” Saikia, the complainant in the case.

He was also booked under a section of the 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act pertaining to the insult or intimidation of members of the groups with the intent to humiliate them public.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is a director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Biswajit Phukan is its chairman.

The Jatiya Yuva Shakti had organised a protest in front of the bank’s headquarters at Pan Bazar in Guwahati to demand a high-level inquiry and action against those responsible for the alleged financial mismanagement.

Mozumdar, who is also the assistant general secretary of the Gauhati Press Club, claimed in a social media post that he had been detained for asking questions to Saikia about the alleged scam. “My voice cannot be stopped,” he added.

He also shared a video clip of him questioning Saikia on the matter.

Press bodies question police ‘high-handedness’

The Gauhati Press Club criticised Mozumdar’s detention and demanded his immediate release, PTI reported.

The Press Club of India condemned the Assam Police’s “highhandedness” in the case, particularly in their refusal to inform Mozumdar’s family and his colleagues of the grounds of his detention.

“Preventing a journalist from carrying out his official duty is a grave infringement of the freedom of press that is guaranteed under Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution,” it said.

The Press Club of India also said the police did not reveal the complainant’s name in the Prevention of Atrocities Act case, and did not provide details about when the alleged incident took place.

The Assam Women’s Journalists Forum also demanded that Mozumdar be immediately released, and said his arrest has caused significant concern among journalists.

“His spouse, lawyer and colleagues from different media organisations were barred from meeting him, owing to which his medication for diabetes could not be administered to him,” the forum said.

“Detaining a journalist for simply doing his job – seeking answers on a matter of public interest – raises serious questions about democratic principles and the State’s treatment of the Press,” the Assam Women’s Journalists Forum said.

The Editors Guild of India said “the detention of a journalist while on duty is deeply disturbing” and highlighted that the incident raised “serious concerns about media suppression”.

“ While the media is duty-bound to report fairly and responsibly, it is equally the responsibility of the Assam government to ensure that journalists can carry out their work without intimidation or obstruction,” it said.

Assam Jatiya Parishad chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi said that detaining a journalist on duty was not acceptable in a democracy, The Wire reported. “Hussain went to seek the MD’s response,” the news portal quoted Gogoi as saying. “What crime has he done?”

Gogoi claimed that such acts were an attempt by the chief minister to unleash “jungle raj” in Assam.

Bedabrat Borah, chief of Assam Congress’ media department, also condemned the incident and said: “The freedom of press and freedom of journalists have been attacked”.

Allegations against the bank

The allegations against the bank pertain to its operation without a formal contract with an information technology vendor since June, despite the expiration of previous agreements, PTI reported, citing a copy of a complaint from January 30 that was circulated during the Jatiya Yuva Shakti protest on Tuesday.

This had raised concerns about operational stability and security risks for account holders, according to the news agency.

In addition, it was alleged that there had been a significant and unwarranted increase in the cost of banking infrastructure contracts, rising to nearly Rs 50 crore in 2025 from Rs 28 crore in 2018.

On March 3, the cooperation department of the state government directed the Assam Registrar of Cooperative Societies to investigate the claims and submit a report within 15 days, PTI reported.

“The financial future of account holders is at stake, yet the government remains silent,” the news agency quoted Jatiya Yuva Shakti General Secretary Chandrapal Baruah as saying. “We demand an impartial probe and strict punishment for those who have betrayed public trust.”