‘I’m just a suspect’: Youth held for pork dumping at Guwahati mosque denies role

Guwahati, July 9: A youth arrested in connection with the alleged pork-dumping incident at a mosque in Guwahati’s Panjabari area has denied any involvement, stating that he is being falsely implicated.

The accused, identified as Mridupavan Pathak, was arrested by Dispur Police on Wednesday for allegedly dumping a packet containing pork on the premises of a mosque in Panjabari.

Along with the meat, the packet reportedly contained a piece of paper bearing the name and phone number of a young woman, whom Pathak is believed to have known personally.

Pathak, however, denied writing the note or being behind the incident.

“I know the woman, but I did not write her name or phone number. I am just a suspect. No one has proven that the handwriting is mine,” Pathak told the press after his arrest.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing the press in Chirang on Wednesday, said that the case appeared to be personal in nature and not related to religion.

“The Guwahati mosque case involves a woman. It’s not a religious issue. The individual has been detained and is being interrogated,” the Chief Minister said.

According to police sources, personal revenge is being investigated as the possible motive.

Preliminary findings suggest that Pathak may have attempted to malign the woman, who had allegedly rejected his romantic advances, by associating her with the act.

Authorities, however, have not ruled out the communal unrest angle in the case.

Pathak is currently in police custody, and further legal proceedings are underway.

The incident has surfaced against the backdrop of a series of similar acts targeting religious institutions across Assam.

In recent months, severed cow heads and beef have been dumped in temples, prompting widespread concern.

In June, Chief Minister Sarma had condemned such actions, warning against the "weaponisation" of beef to incite communal tensions.

“Dumping leftover cow meat outside schools and religious places is unacceptable. These are calculated efforts to provoke unrest,” Sarma had said.

In response to similar incidents earlier, the Chief Minister had also announced plans to implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) restricting the slaughter of cows within a 5 km radius of religious institutions during Eid.