Congress MP Rakibul Hussain and his personal security officers (PSOs) were attacked by a mob in Assam’s Nagaon district on Thursday, prompting chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to announce that the Opposition leader’s security will be beefed up while he is in the district.

The Congress leader, who had won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by over ten lakh votes last year, said he was travelling to the meeting venue on scooters with his PSOs, but a group of about 15 persons stopped and attacked them.

He said that this the fourth time he had been targeted in his home district since 2023.

A video showed a group of masked men in heated argument with Hussain and his security officers. A person was seen attacking the MP and his PSOs with a cricket bat. Hussain fell down while trying to drive away from the mob, which had first waved black flags at them.

The MP’s PSOs fired in the air to disperse the attackers.

The Congress said the attack on Hussain reflected the deteriorating law and order situation in the state while holding the chief minister, who is also the home minister, accountable for the same.

In the Assembly, Sarma said: “I assure you that whenever he (Hussain) visits Nagaon, Samaguri and Rupahi, we will provide him with additional security... I have seen something or the other happening whenever he visits Rupahi or Samaguri over the past one year...”