For participating in illicit gambling activities, cops in Assam arrested former MLA Naren Sonowal on Thursday, March 16. Sonowal also served as the Naharkatia constituency’s previous legislator and was one of the wealthiest candidates running for the Assam Assembly elections in 2021.

Sonowal, who reportedly holds assets worth INR 33 crore, was one of the wealthiest candidates running for the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, said the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Naren also disclosed his INR 33 crore worth of assets when running for the Assam Assembly in 2016 where he was elected to the assembly from the Naharkatia constituency in 2016.

Along with Sonowal, the police has also arrested six more people related to the same case, including the former Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) MLA and other five small-timers from Boiragimoth area in Dibrugarh.

All the individuals are arrested under Section 16 of the Assam Game and Betting Act, according to Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Shwetank Mishra, who spoke to India Today.

“Based on specific input, we conducted a raid at a house in the Boiragimoth area late on Thursday night and managed to arrest a total of seven persons who were found to be involved in illegal gambling activities,” said Raju Bahadur Chetry, the officer in-charge of Dibrugarh police station.

During the raid, police found a significant number of goods used in gambling as well as INR 96,500 in cash. Police also confiscated two motorbikes and a vehicle that belonged to the suspects.