Assam: Congress spokesperson gets bail; Jairam Ramesh says arrest a "targeted effort"

Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 29 (ANI): A day after Assam Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh got bail from the Guwahati High Court, the party's General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday that the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government had targeted their party member in an effort to "throttle his voice."
Ramesh said that the Guwahati High Court had found the arrest to be "riddled with procedural errors."
"On Thursday, the Guwahati High Court found that the arrest of my young colleague Reetam Singh was riddled with procedural errors, evidencing the haste and illegality of the regime's efforts to throttle his voice. Reetam was targeted by the State of Assam for his social media posts but now stands released from custody," Ramesh said in a post on X.
Assam Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh was detained by Assam police on March 15, on the basis of a complaint regarding his social media post on X. The Guwahati High Court had granted interim bail to Singh on Friday.
Congress leader Ramesh further thanked Advocate KN Choudhary and his team for representing Reetam Singh.
"The AICC Legal Department headed by @DrAMSinghvi, has been fighting for our @INCIndia workers, members, and spokespersons. The INC will not rest in this fight for our democracy and will ensure that the ruling regime is not able to violate the fundamental rights of our citizens. Special thanks to Senior Advocate KN Choudhary and his team for arguing on behalf of Reetam," Ramesh's post read.
He further reiterated the party's stance to keep "fighting for the common man" despite any problems faced by them from the government.
Earlier on March 16, Congress leader Ramesh and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma engaged in a war of words following Singh's arrest.
Ramesh raised the issue on X, linking a media report about Singh's arrest and tagging Sarma.
"The arrest of my young colleague Reetam Singh (@SinghReetam) for a perfectly reasonable social media post is worse than atrocious Mr. Chief Minister @himantabiswa," Ramesh had written.
The Assam CM had hit back, questioning Congress's stance and accusing Ramesh of justifying offensive remarks against a Dalit woman's husband. He also warned of an impending "big revelation" linking a senior Congress leader, Gaurav Gogoi, to ISI and Pakistan.
"Sir, this case pertains to a caste-based insult directed at a Dalit woman. If you justify calling the husband of a Dalit woman a rapist as a 'perfectly reasonable' social media post, it speaks volumes about the direction in which you people have taken the Congress party. But, just wait--the big revelation is yet to come- The nexus of your senior leader with ISI and Pakistan will be exposed by September," Sarma had written on X.

Reetam Singh had posted on X, mentioning a previous case of rape accused getting the "punishment they deserved" but questioned whether other alleged rape accused, who are associated with the BJP, including state ministers and party presidents would be punished too. (ANI)