The Assam police on Sunday detained Cockroach Janta Party convenor Ashutosh Ranka and several other leaders of the organisation in Guwahati right before their first regional volunteers meeting was scheduled near the Assam secretariat.
About 30 workers of the CJP, including its four central committee members, were reportedly detained.
Ranka said that the police action began in the morning despite the proposed gathering being a peaceful meeting on private property.
CJP leaders said that several senior leaders and volunteers from Assam, including Ashutosh Ranka, Ankit Bhardwaj, and Prem Akash, were detained and taken to a police station in Guwahati.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said that the police took them to an unknown location.
The development comes a day after Ranka and other CJP leaders met with Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal leaders. The group discussed several issues, including the Assam floods and CJP activities in the state. The CJP also met with several opposition leaders in Assam.
The CJP recently stated that it intended to expand its organisational activities to Assam and the north-east.
Ranka also said that the the CJP would meet with families affected by the electoral roll revision and visit government schools to assess their situation. Ranka alleged that the officials were trying to prevent the CJP from raising questions about schools, land and other issues in the state.
Ranka had also levelled allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “Himanta Biswa Sarma fears that if we expose the reality of Assam's schools, the country will learn about their condition. He is afraid that people will know how their rights were being snatched in Kaziranga for the benefit of the corporates. But we are not afraid of him. We know that he won the Assembly election by redrawing boundaries of constituencies," Ranka added.
The Guwahati police have not issued a statement on the number of people detained or the reasons for the detention.
