Roads barricaded, members detained: CJP slams crackdown ahead of Guwahati meet

A planned volunteers’ meeting by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Assam was stopped in its tracks on Sunday after police detained co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and several other party leaders and volunteers in Guwahati.

The detention triggered a sharp attack from CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who accused Assam Police of taking Ranka and the team to an unknown location. In a post on X, Dipke said the CJP leaders were on their way to a small volunteers’ meeting when they were detained.

“Assam Police has detained Ashutosh Ranka and the CJP team and is taking them to an unknown location,” Dipke posted, alleging that the team had only been going to hold a small volunteers’ meet-up in Assam.

The CJP had planned its first regional volunteers’ meeting in Guwahati, with several leaders and volunteers expected to attend. The leadership claimed that the Assam Police blocked access to the venue and intercepted people who attempted to visit the spot.

Ranka, who was among those detained, had been in Assam since Saturday and was scheduled to address the meeting. He had earlier said the CJP planned to meet families affected by the revision of electoral rolls and visit government schools to assess their condition.

In his posts from Assam, Ranka alleged that the authorities were trying to stop the CJP from raising questions about the state’s schools, land and other issues. He also raised questions over the electoral-roll revision in Assam, alleging that the process could expose what he described as irregularities in the state’s elections.

The CJP has also alleged that tear-gas equipment was deployed near the venue and that its lawyers were not allowed to meet the detained activists. The organisation said it could not immediately confirm the exact number of volunteers detained or their locations.

The detentions came just as the CJP was stepping up its activities in Assam. Ranka had said the organisation would work with families affected by the voter-list revision, inspect schools and expand its volunteer network across Assam and the Northeast.

The CJP has demanded the immediate release of Ranka and the other detained volunteers and said its grassroots campaign in Assam would continue despite the police action.- Ends