Assam Police, accompanied by Delhi Police, conducted searches at Congress leader Pawan Khera’s residence in Nizamuddin East, New Delhi on 6 April 2026, in connection with an FIR filed by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma – wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The action followed Khera’s public allegation that Riniki held multiple foreign passports, a claim that prompted the FIR against him.
Khera was not present at his home during the search. Assam Police claimed to have recovered “incriminating material,” including electronic devices, from the premises. Congress condemned the move as a brazen “witch hunt,” with party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh accusing the Assam CM of being “disturbed, desperate, and rattled” ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
Among the loudest voices condemning the police action was Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram, who took to X to declare: “Assam Police has become a Private Militia.”
The statement was pointed, indignant, and, for those with a longer memory, deeply ironic. The internet never forgets.
Because in October 2012, it was Karti Chidambaram himself who filed a police complaint that led to India’s first-ever arrest for a tweet.
The man arrested was Ravi Srinivasan, a 46-year-old small-scale industrialist from Puducherry with just 16 followers on Twitter. His offence: posting a message alleging that Karti, son of then-Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had “amassed more wealth than Vadra,” a reference to Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, who was under scrutiny for land deals at the time.
On Karti’s complaint, Puducherry Police arrested Srinivasan under Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act – a provision designed for cybercrimes like hacking, not political opinion. Srinivasan was granted bail, refused to apologise, and publicly stated that Karti had used the police to silence legitimate criticism.
Section 66-A was ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015 as unconstitutional for violating free speech. But not before it was repeatedly weaponised by those in power, including, on record, by Karti Chidambaram, against ordinary citizens exercising their right to political expression.
First man in India to be arrested for a tweet was Ravi Srinivasan on the complaint of a politician named @KartiPC for mentioning that political had amassed more wealth than Vadra. That was under @INCIndia government. That is how state-run militia looked like. https://t.co/6lwu8YVQxH pic.twitter.com/F5vPZkDzdd
— saket साकेत ಸಾಕೇತ್ 🇮🇳 (@saket71) April 7, 2026
The contrast is stark. In 2012, a man with hardly any followers was arrested under a Congress government on the complaint of a politician’s son for a single tweet. In 2026, that same politician’s son describes state police visiting a colleague’s home as a “private militia.”
The mechanics of power and its use against political opponents have not changed. Only the party holding it has.
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