Assam | 5 out of 41 candidates of Phase I of elections having criminal records

Guwahati, April 6, 2019:

Election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that 5 out of 41 candidates who will contest the Lok Sabha elections have criminal charges against them. Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Kaliabor, Dibrugarh and Tezpur will head to the polls during Phase-I of the elections.

As per the ADR release, Independent candidate for Tezpur seat Ziabur Rahman Khan has two criminal cases pending against him with serious IPC sections and the charges include murder, kidnapping, and robbery. The next in the list is Bhaben Baruah, National People’s Party (NPP) candidate for Dibrugarh with one criminal case with three serious IPC sections with charges of forgery and extortion.

Tezpur constituency candidate of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Mahendra Bhuyan has two declared criminal cases, including two charges of criminal intimidation. Meanwhile, Kaliabor candidate of Hindustan Nirmal Dal (HND), Diganta Saikia has one case of cheating and Independent candidate Jiten Gogoi has one case of rioting against him.