‘He is scared’: CJP’s Ashutosh Ranka hits out at Himanta Sarma after detention in Assam

A planned volunteers’ meeting of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in Guwahati was disrupted on Sunday after Assam Police detained CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and several other party leaders and volunteers.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that Ranka and other members of the team were detained while they were on their way to attend a small volunteers’ meeting. He said the police took them to an unknown location.

“Assam Police has detained Ashutosh Ranka and the CJP team and is taking them to an unknown location,” Dipke wrote in a post on X.

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

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Ranka had been in Assam since Saturday and was scheduled to address the meeting. Before the event, he had said the CJP planned to meet families affected by the revision of electoral rolls and visit government schools to assess their condition.

After his detention, Ranka criticised the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government and alleged that CJP members in the state had been threatened.

“Himanta Biswa Sarma is scared because we wanted to highlight the condition of Assam. We wanted to expose the state of Assam’s schools, the reality of Kaziranga and the man-made floods in the state. That is why he detained us and also threatened our members. But he has forgotten that it is not easy to scare the people of this soil,” Ranka said in a video after his detention.

 

 

 

 

CJP raises questions over electoral rolls

In 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 revision of electoral rolls in Assam, alleging that the process could expose what he described as irregularities in the state’s elections.

The CJP further 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.

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CJP says Assam campaign will continue

The detentions came 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. The organisation said its grassroots campaign in Assam would continue despite the police action.