Two held for conspiracy against rival candidates

Guwahati: Two persons, suspected to be BJP supporters, were arrested in Tezpur on Thursday and Friday by Sonitpur police for conspiring to hide illegal items in the houses of a few candidates of Rangapara constituency in the district.
Sonitpur district superintendent of police Sanjukta Parashar said, "Acting on a tip off, police caught Gopal Pathak, a trader, at a hotel in Tezpur on Thursday night.Ajit Baruah, a retired government official, was arrested on Friday. They were planning to hide contraband objects in the houses of some of the candidates of Rangapara constituency. They were arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy."
A source in the police said the two were targeting Congress candidate Bhimananda Tantis to taint his image so that he is disqualified from contesting the election.
Though police are yet to reveal the political affiliation of the two, a source said and alleged that the they were working for the saffron camp and had joined the party during its online campaign earlier.
The SP said, "We are investigating how the two got access to the illegal arms."
On Thursday night after Pathak's arrest, several BJP workers, led by the party's Rangapara constituency candidate Pallab Lochan Das, protested alleging that miscreants had abducted their party worker. Das was one of the dissident Congress legislators who had joined BJP last year and was given a chance to contest the state polls this time from Rangapara seat. He had won last the assembly election from Behali seat. He was not available for comments. BJP's Sonitpur (west) district committee president Mrinal Saikia said, "This is an attempt to malign the image of our party candidate. We suspect police's intention and dare to prove the allegations."