From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: A person accused of rhino poaching in Assam is among those who have won in the Assam panchayat elections.
Dilwar Hussain, who is wanted in a rhino poaching case, won the panchayat polls on a Congress ticket by a margin of 240 votes.
Hussain who hails from Suwaguri village, had been arrested on two ocassions for his alleged involvement in rhino poaching. Sources said that Hussain was first arrested in 2011.
The court had directed the state forest department to initiate a probe into the poaching incidents this year. “I am innocent. It is a political conspiracy against me. A case was registered against me and it is going on, but I am just an accused person, not a convicted person,” Hussain said.
Hussain’s win has apparently added to the woes of the Congress as far as panchayat election results were concerned.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) claimed that the party had already written to the concerned Deputy Commissioner to cancel Hussain’s candidature.
“It is very unfortunate. We have already sent a letter to the Deputy Commissioner and election officer of Biswanath district to cancel his candidature,” said senior Congress leader Apurba Bhattacharyya.