Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Assam Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convener Ashutosh Ranka and several associates in Guwahati on Sunday, September 27. Officers took the group into custody near the Assam Secretariat in Dispur. Ranka and five associates, including Ankit Bhardwaj and Prem Aakash, were intercepted while heading to a scheduled volunteer meeting. Police also apprehended at least 20 volunteers from the parking area. Officers even took three participants from Nagaland, including a 72-year-old woman.
Authorities barricaded the road leading to the venue. They deployed a heavy police presence. Five other attendees carrying a “Volunteer Meet-Up” banner were also swept up before the event began. Actor and activist Arghadeep Baruah was among those taken to the 10th Assam Police Battalion facility. CJP claims as many as 50 people were detained in total. Other individuals identified in the sweep include Khargeswar Milli, Sheikh Sahiluddin Shah, Hitesh Barua, Mintu Das, and Tommy Barua.
Before officers took him away, Ranka attacked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the state of local infrastructure. He questioned the motives behind the police action. “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 stated. Another detainee told reporters, “We just came for a protest, but they have detained us before we could even start.”
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke took to X to report the detentions. He claimed lawyers arriving at the scene were blocked from speaking with the detainees. Police have provided no official reason for the arrests. The party scheduled a press conference for 12.45 p.m. at Chaudhary Tilla to address the situation.
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