CJP alleges police stopped Guwahati volunteers’ meeting and detained leaders

A planned volunteers’ meeting of the Cockroach Janta Party in Guwahati was halted on Sunday after police detained co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and several party leaders and volunteers, according to the organisation. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said on X that Ranka and the team had been taken to an unknown location. He said they had been travelling to a small volunteers’ meeting when they were detained.

The party said access to the meeting venue had been blocked and that people attempting to reach the site were intercepted. It also alleged that lawyers were prevented from meeting the detained activists. Ranka had been in Assam since Saturday and was scheduled to address the gathering.

Before the meeting, he said the organisation planned to meet families affected by electoral-roll revision, inspect government schools and expand its volunteer network across Assam and the Northeast. In posts from Assam, Ranka alleged that the authorities were trying to prevent the CJP from raising questions about schools, land and other issues. He also questioned the voter-list revision, alleging that it could reveal irregularities in the state’s elections.

The party further alleged that tear-gas equipment had been deployed near the venue. It said it could not immediately confirm the number of volunteers detained or their locations. The detentions came as the CJP was increasing its activity in Assam.

The organisation demanded the immediate release of Ranka and the other detained volunteers, saying its grassroots campaign in the state would continue despite the police action.