Anybody in Assam found to be “directly or indirectly” supporting Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack will be charged under the National Security Act, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday.

The Act allows for long periods of detention without trial and suspends important rights of the accused person, including the right to legal representation and immediate information about the cause of the arrest.

The warning came against the backdrop of the Assam Police arresting 11 persons in the state for making remarks that the authorities claimed were anti-India.

Sarma said on Saturday that the police in Cachar district had arrested two persons – Baktar Hussain Barbhuiya from Ramnagar and Mohammed Imran Hussain Borbhuiya, a resident of Malugram Ganiwala.

They were arrested for allegedly “posting content supporting Pakistan on social media”.

On Thursday, the Assam Police arrested Dhing MLA Aminul Islam for comments he made about the attack that the authorities alleged were “misleading and instigating”.

Sarma said on Friday that Assam would not “tolerate any individual who, directly or indirectly, supports or defends Pakistan in connection with the heinous attack in Pahalgam”.

In addition to Islam, he listed four more persons – Md Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, Md AK Bahauddin and Md Javed Mazumder from Silchar, Md Mahahar Mia from Morigaon and Md Sahil Ali from Sivasagar – who were arrested for “promoting the cause of Pakistan on social media”.

Later in the day, Sarma said that two additional arrests – Md Jarif Ali from Barpeta and Anil Bania, the district secretary of the Satra Mukti Sangram Parishad, from Biswanath – had been made.

Twenty-six persons were killed and 17 others were injured in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday. The attack took place in the Baisaran area of Anantnag district. Militants fired at tourists, most of whom were from outside the state.

The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those who died were Hindu.

This was the first major terrorist attack targeting civilians in Kashmir since the Union government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the punishment meted out by India for the attack in Pahalgam will be “bigger than what the terrorists imagine”.

Modi vowed that India would “identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers” involved in the attack and “pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.

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