Congress accuses Nagaon ASP of intimidating poll agents; calls off protest after DGP's assurance

Guwahati, Nov 12: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Bora has raised concerns over alleged bias by the Nagaon police ahead of tomorrow's by-polls, reaching out to State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anurag Goel and Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh for intervention.

The APCC has accused the newly appointed Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Jayanta Baruah, of intimidating the party’s election agents and claimed that he is acting on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bora said, “This morning, I spoke to the DGP and CEO Goel regarding the issue, urging them to rein in the involved police officers. We were on the verge of launching a sit-in in front of the DGP’s office, but called it off after the DGP assured us that he had instructed the Nagaon police to act in accordance with the law.”

Bora further alleged that the Additional SP had threatened Congress election agents in two villages, including Khatoal Gaon. The APCC chief also pointed out that the Additional SP had failed to respond to summons issued by Election Observers appointed by the Election Commission. “We have been informed that the Additional SP was summoned three times by the election observers, but he did not attend,” Bora alleged.

Additionally, Bora claimed that three Congress workers have been arrested following pre-poll violence in Samaguri under Section 109, without any clear explanation from the police. “When we asked why they have arrested our workers, the police couldn’t give us any satisfactory explanation,” he said.

“The DGP assured us that they aim to ensure a peaceful by-poll and maintain law and order, but three of our workers remain in custody without reason. Despite this, we have called off our protest, trusting the DGP’s assurances. We will see how things unfold,” the APCC president added.

Bora also expressed his belief that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is on the brink of collapse. “The NDA government is disintegrating. Two prominent leaders from the coalition are in talks with Congress, and the NDA government will soon collapse,” the APCC president claimed.

Earlier on November 10, Jayanta Baruah was appointed as the new Additional Superintendent of Police for Nagaon after Election Commission transferred former Partha Pratim Saikia following complaints from the state government over their handling of the pre-poll violence in Samaguri.

The Commission had also appointed Shymanta Sharma as the police officer for the Kaliabor sub-division after transferring Rupjyoti Dutta on the same day.