Guwahati, Sep 27: Six women volunteers of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were released late Sunday after being detained by Assam Police ahead of the party’s first regional meeting in the Northeast, but the party’s co-convenor and chief spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka and several others remain in custody.
The detention has triggered a standoff between the CJP and the Assam government over what the party calls a block on its outreach in the state.
According to the CJP and reports from Guwahati, police picked up Ranka and 40 other workers and volunteers on Sunday morning from a private residence at Chowdhury Tila, opposite the Assam Secretariat, where a volunteers’ meet-up was scheduled.
The party said the group included 41 people including six women, and Ranka’s associates Ankit Bharadwaj and Prem Aakash. The six women were released later in the day, officials confirmed.
The meeting was part of CJP’s organisational push in Assam. Organisers said it was initially booked at Assam Shree Parshuram Seva Sadan in Athgaon but was shifted after pressure on the original venue.
Ranka had arrived in Guwahati on Saturday. Before being detained, he alleged the state government was trying to prevent the CJP from raising issues relating to government schools, land, forests and water.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged the leaders were taken to an undisclosed location and that lawyers were not being allowed access. “Assam Police has detained Ashutosh Ranka and the CJP team and is taking them to an unknown location,” Dipke posted on X.
The party said its agenda was to discuss poor conditions in government schools, evictions in Kaziranga, arrests of activists and the revision of electoral rolls.
CJP spokesperson Anish Gawande alleged no legal notice was served and the detention sections were not communicated. The party has demanded immediate release of all detained workers and said it is considering legal action.
As of Sunday evening, Assam Police had not issued a detailed public statement on the grounds for the detentions.
