Assam News: Former Assam MLA Naren Sonowal has been the most candidate in the 2016 elections. The police have arrested seven accused including the former MLA.
Guwahati: In a big crackdown, Assam Police on Thursday (March 16) arrested Naren Sonowal, former MLA from Naharkatiya constituency for his involvement in illegal gambling activities. The former AGP MLA, the richest candidate in the 2016 elections, was arrested by a police team from Boiragimoth area of Dibrugarh town in Upper Assam.
The Dibrugarh police had arrested Sonowal along with six more accused for their alleged involvement in the crime. The other six accused have been identified as Mukul Ghosh, Mehroz Ahmed, Deepender Dutta, Ritwik Baruah, Abdul Rashid and Deepak Ranjan.
Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Shwetank Mishra said that we have arrested the accused under section 16 of the Assam Game and Betting Act, 1970. Based on specific inputs, we raided a house in Boiragimoth area late Thursday night and managed to arrest a total of seven people. All of them were found involved in illegal gambling activities.
The police officer said that during the raid, we recovered material used in gambling activities. We have also recovered Rs 96,500 in cash. Apart from this, we have seized a car and two motorcycles of the accused. A case has been registered against the accused at Dibrugarh Police Station.
Naren Sonowal, a member of the AGP, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government, was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly in 2016 from the Naharkatiya constituency. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), Sonowal was one of the richest candidates contesting the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, with declared assets of Rs 33 crore.
