Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Dispur, raised concerns about the sudden activity of around 5,000 suspicious Facebook accounts ahead of the upcoming elections in the state.

He said these accounts are linked to a particular community but are mostly operated from outside India. The Chief Minister claimed that these profiles mainly post content about Assam’s elections and support one political party. However, they avoid talking about national leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Sarma also said that the accounts often share content that mixes Islamic religious views with political issues in Assam. When not posting about Assam, they focus on topics related to countries like Iran, Iraq, and Palestine or religious subjects such as Umrah. He added that many of these accounts are newly made and falsely mention IIT Guwahati as their location to appear trustworthy.

Mr Sarma said that when officials checked with IIT Guwahati, they found no records of the people behind the suspicious Facebook accounts. Two of the accounts were traced to users in Bangladesh and Pakistan. He said these people are using fake names and locations to mislead the public.

The Chief Minister added that the government is keeping a close watch on these activities and that the people behind the accounts are already on their radar. He also mentioned that there might be a local link in Guwahati, pointing to areas like GS Road and Kharghuli, though he didn’t give many details.

"This has been happening for the past month. I won’t name anyone right now, but we are watching closely," he said. "These people are connected through apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, and they become more active after any controversial incident," he added.