Daijiworld Media Network - Guwahati

Guwahati, Sep 27: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convener and chief spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka and several party leaders and volunteers were detained by Assam Police in Guwahati on Sunday, shortly before the organisation’s first regional volunteers’ meeting in the state.

According to reports, more than 30 CJP workers, including four members of the party’s central committee, were detained. The party claimed that around 50 people had been taken into custody, but the figure could not be independently verified. Those detained reportedly included Ranka, Ankit Bhardwaj, Prem Aakash and several Assam-based volunteers.

The meeting was originally scheduled for 10 am at Assam Shree Parshuram Seva Sadan on Kharga Choudhury Road in Athgaon. The venue was later shifted to Chowdhury Tila, opposite the Assam Secretariat, after the organisers alleged that pressure had been exerted on the original venue to cancel the booking.

Ranka had arrived in Guwahati on Saturday along with other CJP members to oversee preparations for the meeting, which was expected to bring together around 200 to 300 volunteers from Assam and other northeastern states.

Before his detention, Ranka alleged that police had barricaded roads leading to the meeting venue and were preventing volunteers from reaching the site. He also alleged that tear-gas equipment had been deployed and that CJP members were being detained.

Speaking after his detention, Ranka alleged that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was trying to prevent the organisation from raising questions about the condition of government schools, Kaziranga and what the CJP described as “man-made floods” in the state. He alleged that the government was “scared” of the organisation and its volunteers.

The CJP also alleged that its campaign in Assam would focus on education, the Special Revision of electoral rolls and issues concerning local communities. Ranka had said before the detention that he planned to visit schools and meet families affected by the revision of electoral rolls.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged on X that Assam Police had detained Ranka and the party team while they were on their way to the volunteers’ meeting and were taking them to an unknown location. The party also claimed that lawyers who reached the location were not allowed to meet the detained members.

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

As of the latest reports, Assam Police had not publicly stated the reason for the detentions.