‘Assam Police said they had orders from the top’: CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka alleges illegal detention

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Ashutosh Ranka on September 27 alleged that Assam Police illegally detained him and over 40 party volunteers ahead of a scheduled meeting in Guwahati, claiming officers told him they were acting on orders from “the top”.

Ranka made the allegation after being released along with the other detainees later in the evening.

“The illegal detention by Assam Police has finally ended. We have asked Police to go and drop us from where we were picked up illegally in the first place,” Ranka said in a post on X.

Addressing reporters after his release, Ranka said the police did not provide any explanation for the detention when questioned.

“The Assam Police detained me and my team illegally. We asked them on what basis we were detained, but the police said they didn't know, and that they had orders from the top,” he said.

Ranka and the CJP volunteers had gathered at the residence of Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) leader Kunki Chowdhury at Chowdhury Tilla for a meeting when they were picked up by the police. They were subsequently taken to the 10th Assam Police Battalion headquarters in Guwahati’s Kahilipara area.

Ranka said the proposed meeting was to discuss the condition of schools in Assam, the rights of indigenous people in Kaziranga and the delimitation of constituencies.

While being taken away by the police earlier in the day, Ranka alleged that the action was aimed at preventing the CJP from highlighting these issues.

“He is scared that if we show the schools here, the country will know the reality. He is afraid that people will know how their rights were being snatched in Kaziranga for the benefit of corporates. Also, man-made floods have taken scores of lives,” Ranka had alleged, referring to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Ranka also alleged that the Chief Minister was “afraid of being exposed” and claimed that the CJP’s criticism extended to the state’s education system and the delimitation of constituencies.

“He (Sarma) is scared that if we show the schools here, the country will know the reality,” Ranka said.

In another statement, Ranka said, “Himanta Biswa Sarma is afraid of the cockroaches and used his police to threaten us. He forgets that this is the land of Zubeen da (Zubeen Garg), who fought for what is right. We want schools for our children and jobs for our youth.”

He further alleged that Sarma had “repeated the mistake” made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the CJP’s protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and said the organisation would intensify its movement across the Northeast.

“Sarma may have all the resources, but we are not afraid. We are fighting for our rights,” Ranka said.

Meanwhile, NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande alleged that Ranka and 41 others were “illegally and unconstitutionally detained” from a private residence where the CJP volunteers were scheduled to meet.

Gawande claimed that the detainees were neither served a legal notice nor informed about the sections under which they had been detained.