Bhagabangola, May 2: Abu Sufian, a former Congress MLA, is said to be on the run. But he is all over here, campaigning.

An arrest warrant was issued against him but police, unable to lay their hands on the man accused of rioting, proclaimed him an “absconder”.

He is now the election agent of Mannan Hossain, the Congress candidate from Murshidabad.

A pradesh Congress committee member, Sufian was nonchalant when reminded about the warrant. “The party has asked me to oversee Hossain’s campaign,” he said.

Officer-in-charge of the local Ranitala police station Tapas Banerjee said: “We know that the former legislator is campaigning for Hossain. He has promised to surrender once the elections are over. But I have made it clear that I will be forced to arrest him if I see him.”

Banerjee also said that Sufian’s arrest before the polls will create trouble. “He is wanted in a case pending since 1988. The court issued the warrant against him last July.”

Armed Congress and CPM supporters clashed on February 23, 1988, and ransacked houses of supporters of both parties. The police accused Sufian of masterminding the attack. The CPM supporters were arrested and released on bail. Sufian, the police said, could not be held as he was “absconding”.

The former MLA was certain that there was politics. “I was not involved in the rioting. The police would have dropped my name in its final report had I not belonged to the Congress,” he said. “The report said I was absconding even when I was attending the Assembly between 1996 and 2001. However, I told the police that I will surrender after the polls and they accepted my plea.”

A senior district police officer said it is not always possible to go by the book.

“Not just Sufian, dozens of political leaders have arrest warrants pending against them. They are not criminals or anti-socials and will not be able to escape the police. We can afford to be a little liberal towards them in the interest of the law and order situation in the run-up to the polls,” the officer said.