An All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader was arrested in Malda district of West Bengal on Thursday for an "objectionable" post on social media. He has been booked under cyber law and defamation sections of the IPC.
Matiur Rahaman, who is also a teacher at a madrasa in Chanchol in Malda, was picked up from his house on Wednesday night, said a AIMIM leader in Kolkata.
Rahaman had criticised the policies of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and called for her ouster. He also took objection to police allegedly threatening a AIMIM leader in Murshidabad's Raghunathgunj.
The police officer had allegedly asked the leader not to carry out any political procession in the area.
Barkataullah, senior AIMIM leader, told THE WEEK that the AIMIM would launch a protest across the state protesting the arrest. "The chief minister would never be able to control us....We will spread in Bengal like a wild fire. Mamata Banerjee's real face is exposed," he said.
According to police sources, Banerjee recently asked police department not to allow political activities of AIMIM. Following this, the party was not given permission to take out candle light march in Kolkata and other towns deploring rape and murder of a young veterinarian in Hyderabad.
AIMIM sources said party chief Asaduddin Owaisi would float the party in Kolkata in January next year. "He would hold a massive rally at Brigade parade ground where eight lakh people will participate," said a leader of AIMIM.
Observers feel this would create a major political hurdle for Mamata Banerjee in the days to come.
