Guwahati: Police on Tuesday arrested Congress legislator in Assam Rumi Nath from her official residence in Dispur Assembly complex for her alleged links with the kingpin of an international car-lifting racket Anil Chauhan.
She has been remanded to one day’s police custoday.
Rumi Nath had allegedly recommended car-pass for Chauhan to enter the high-security premises of
Assam Legislative Assembly complex and MLA Hostel campus. Chauhan was arrested by city police on April 3 last.
Confirming this, a senior police official said Nath was arrested from her official quarter in the Assembly Hostel campus, following which she was taken to the Dispur police station.
She was arrested in connection with two cases registered in two different police stations – Dispur and Azara – in which car-theft kingpin Anil Chauhan was already arrested last week.
The police meanwhile have frozen as many as 17 bank accounts belonging to Anil Chauhan, with police hinting at arrest of more people. Rumi Nath’s second husband (since divorced) Jackie Zakir was also arrested in connection with this case on April 8 last.
Police have so far invoked Section 120(B) – criminal conspiracy, Section 212 – harbouring offenders, Section 420 – cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, and Section 468 – forgery for the purpose of cheating – in connection with the two cases registered so far.
The Congress MLA from the Barkhola constituency in Cachar district of Barak Valley, Rumi Nath was allegedly evading arrest. She had applied for an anticipatory bail which was turned down by the Gauhati High Court on Friday. The police on Tuesday arrested her after obtaining permission from
Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi.
Police had earlier found at least one vehicle owned by arrested car lifter Chauhan had a car-pass sticker meant for entry into the Assembly campus, which was issued on recommendation of the Congress MLA.
Though Rumi Nath had denied knowing Chauhan Nath, she admitted that she knew Chauhan’s wife Rita for a long time and that she (Nath) had recommended car-pass only for her.
Controversy has been chasing Rumi Nath since 2010 when she first hogged the headlines by voting for the Congress in the 2010 Rajya Sabha election even though she was then a BJP legislator.
A year later she won from Bakhola LAC again as Congress candidate and was back in the news for dumping her first husband and marrying a government employee called Jackie Zakir.
A few months back she got separated from Zakir too.
