Guwahati: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convenor and chief spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka and at least 40 other volunteers were released around 10 pm after more than 12 hours in Assam Police custody in Guwahati on Sunday, following their detention ahead of a scheduled regional volunteers’ meet-up.
Ranka, along with CJP leaders including Ankit Bhardwaj, Premakash Golu, Assam coordinator Sahil and the other volunteers, had been detained earlier in the day from the Chaudhary Tila area in Dispur, where the CJP was scheduled to hold its regional meeting. They were subsequently taken to the 10th Assam Police Battalion (APBN) headquarters in Kahilipara.
In a post on X after his release, Ranka said his detention had ended and that he would address the media after being taken back to the location from where he was picked up.
“The illegal detention by Assam Police has finally ended. We have asked police to go and drop us from where we were picked up in the first place. I will address the press at Chaudhary Tila, opposite the Secretariat, from where we were picked up,” Ranka said.
Earlier in the day, six women volunteers of the CJP who were detained by Guwahati Police while travelling to attend the meeting were released at around 4.30 pm.
The CJP had planned to hold its regional volunteers’ meeting earlier at the Assam Shree Parshuram Seva Sadan in Athgaon, where more than 500 volunteers from Assam and other parts of the Northeast were expected to assemble.
However, the venue management subsequently withdrew permission, following which the organisers shifted the meeting to Chaudhary Tila in Dispur. The CJP alleged that the venue change came under pressure from the state authorities.
Ranka, who had arrived in Guwahati ahead of the meeting, alleged that CJP members were gathered peacefully on private property when police began detaining them. He further alleged that the authorities were attempting to prevent the party from raising issues concerning government schools, the “man-made” floods witnessed in Upper Assam this monsoon and other public concerns in Assam.
“Why is Himanta Biswa Sarma afraid of people seeing the actual condition of schools in Assam? He knows the situation would become known across the country. He is also afraid of what is happening to people’s rights in Kaziranga, where land, forests and water are being taken away and handed over to corporates,” Ranka said from inside the police vehicle while being detained.
The CJP sought clarification from the authorities on the grounds for the detentions and demanded the immediate release of Ranka and the other detained volunteers.
The detentions triggered reactions from political figures outside the organisation. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande and others criticised the police action and questioned the legality of the detentions. The CJP also claimed that lawyers were initially denied access to those detained.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had earlier warned that he would travel to Assam with other party members if Ranka was not released.
Dipke had also alleged that Ranka was picked up from a private residence and that the party had not been informed of the charges or grounds for his detention.
The Assam Police and Guwahati Police had not publicly provided details on the grounds for the detentions at the time of reporting.
The development came a day after Ranka and other CJP leaders met representatives of the Raijor Dal, AJP and other political figures in Assam. The CJP has said it plans to expand its activities in Assam and the Northeast and raise issues including the condition of government schools, land and electoral roll revision.