Guwahati: The Election Commission (EC) has ordered the transfer of two police officers in Assam’s Nagaon district following recent incidents of violence in the Samaguri Assembly constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled this week.
The transferred officers include Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Partha Pratim Saikia and Kaliabar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Rupjyoti Dutta, who have both been moved out of the district. They are replaced by Jayanta Baruah as ASP (Crime) and Shyamanta Sarma as SDPO, with immediate effect, according to official sources.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed a complaint with the EC, seeking a ban on Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain from campaigning in Samaguri. The BJP alleges that Hussain’s presence has fueled unrest in the area. Additionally, the BJP has lodged a police complaint against the Congress leader.
Rakibul Hussain, who represented Samaguri in the Assam Assembly for over two decades, vacated the seat after his election to the Lok Sabha earlier this year. His son, Tanzil Hussain, is the Congress candidate for the upcoming by-election. The BJP has fielded Diplu Ranjan Sharma, its state general secretary and former youth wing president, as its candidate.
In their letter to the EC, the BJP argued that Hussain’s involvement in the campaign has exacerbated tensions, leading to violent incidents in the constituency, and urged the EC to take immediate action to bar the MP from further campaigning.