More than 30 workers of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), including four members of its central committee, were detained by Assam Police in Guwahati on Sunday, 27 September 2026, ahead of the party's scheduled regional volunteers' meeting, according to party leaders. CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka was among those taken into custody.

How the Detentions Unfolded

The regional volunteers' meeting was originally scheduled for 10 am at Assam Shree Parshuram Seva Sadan on Kharga Choudhury Road in Athgaon, Guwahati. The organisers alleged that pressure was brought on the venue's management to cancel the booking, forcing them to shift the gathering to Chowdhury Tila, opposite the Assam Secretariat. Despite the venue change, police detained party members through the course of the morning.

Ranka, who had arrived in Guwahati on Saturday along with CJP members including Ankit Bhardwaj, Akash Prem, Varun Agrawal, and Anam, had earlier stated that the cancellation of the original venue would not deter the party from proceeding with its programme in Assam.

What Ranka Alleged

Before his detention, Ranka accused the Assam government of attempting to suppress the party's activities and silence its questions on state issues. He alleged that police had been stopping and threatening CJP members since morning, calling it an organised effort to prevent a peaceful assembly on private property.

'Police were acting like goons since morning. It was a peaceful meeting at a private property, but police kept detaining our team members, and now all of us have been detained,' Ranka alleged.

He further alleged that the CJP had intended to highlight the condition of government schools, what the party describes as man-made floods, and other public concerns in Assam. 'Himanta Biswa Sarma is afraid that we will expose the condition of the schools here, the reality of man-made floods and other issues. That is why they are threatening us. But he does not know what we are made of. We will not stop until we expose them,' Ranka said.

Police and Government Response

As of Sunday afternoon, Assam Police had not issued an official statement explaining the grounds for the detentions or confirming the total number of individuals taken into custody. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the state administration had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of reporting. The one-sided account from the CJP, while attributed and quoted accurately, has therefore not been independently verified.

Context and What It Means

The detentions come as the CJP seeks to expand its organisational footprint in Assam, with the regional volunteers' meeting intended to consolidate its support base in the state. Notably, this is not the first time opposition political outfits have alleged administrative obstruction to public gatherings in Assam under the current state government — critics have previously pointed to a pattern of venue cancellations and preventive detentions ahead of political meetings. The CJP's allegations around schools and floods, if substantiated, touch on politically sensitive governance questions in the state. How Assam Police formally justifies — or does not justify — the detentions will be closely watched in the days ahead.