USTM chancellor held from Guwahati residence for allegedly fraudulently obtaining OBC certificate

Guwahati: The chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, (USTM) Mahbabul Haque was held from his Guwahati residence in the early hours of Saturday, a police officer said.

Haque was held by a team of the Sribhumi district police, he said.

"He was picked from his residence at Guwahati and is being brought to Sribhumi. We cannot disclose further details at the moment," the officer, speaking to PTI on condition of anonymity, said.

He also refused to divulge in which case Haque has been held.

Haque was embroiled in a controversy last year over his OBC certificate, which he had obtained "fraudulently" in Sribhumi district in the 1990s.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said in August that a police case would be registered against the USTM chancellor for allegedly fraudulently obtaining the OBC certificate, which was cancelled subsequently.

Sarma had also held USTM and Haque responsible for "flood jihad" against Guwahati, claiming that the water flowing down from the varsity campus, which is located on a hill adjacent to the city, leads to massive flooding