Congress Slams Assam Government Over Activist Arrest

Guwahati: Dispur Police detained land rights activist Pranab Doley on Sunday. Officers grabbed him from his Guwahati home. Doley leads the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee. He spearheads protests against a proposed five-star hotel near the Kaziranga National Park.

The state government faces fierce blowback. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi blasted the move as a push to crush dissent. He argued the BJP prioritizes suppression over debate. "Trying to silence voices by sending the police merely because they oppose the government is not the character of Indian democracy," Gogoi said.

Authorities booked Doley under a laundry list of charges from the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. He sits in Dispur Police Station awaiting transfer to Bokakhat. His phone is gone. Supporters claim police blocked them from seeing him. Doley claims the arrest lacked any official explanation. He called the action a kidnapping.

The conflict stems from land designated for the Assam Tourism Development Corporation. Families say they have farmed this soil for generations. They lack consent for the project. The Gauhati High Court currently reviews a petition from 20 Adivasi families. These farmers claim the hotel threatens both wildlife refuges and their own survival.