To the much embarrassment of the ruling Congress in Assam, two Congress legislators have gone into hiding fearing arrest by police for different reasons. While Congress legislator Rumi Nath has gone into hiding fearing arrest over her alleged nexus with the notorious auto-theft kingpin Anil Chauhan, another Congress legislator from Assam’s Barak Valley Siddeque Ahmed had also gone into hiding after a local court issued arrest warrant against him after he repeatedly failed to appear before the court.
Sources said that Nath on Thursday approached the Gauhati High Court through a counsel seeking an anticipatory bail to evade arrest. A court in Karimganj has issued a roving arrest warrant against Ahmed. The court had wanted Ahmed, the sitting legislator from South Karimganj constituency to appear before it over his alleged involvement in beating a civilian in 2011 in his constituency. The court had earlier issued an arrest warrant against Ahmed on March 19 and it asked him to present himself before the court by March 25.
A team of Karimganj police met the authorities in Assam legislative Assembly Secretariat to get the details of Ahmed, who had been untraceable. Nath, who had won the 2011 polls from Borkhola Assembly constituency in Assam’s Barak Valley on a Congress ticket, has found to have locked her rented residence in Karimganj town of Assam since last few days and she had not been attending any phone calls.
The Speaker of the Assam legislative Assembly Pranab Gogoi has recently asked Nath to explain her position over the allegations. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) had also served a showcause notice to Nath asking her to clarify her position over the allegation.
Her ‘nexus’ with the kingpin came to the fore after the police recovered some car passes issued by the Assam legislative Assembly Secretariat to Chauhan on recommendations of Rumi Nath.