AJP, police face off in Dibrugarh over ‘unauthorised’ search at party chief’s house

Dibrugarh, April 10: A day after voting in the Assam Assembly elections, tension erupted at the residence of Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi in Gadapani, Dibrugarh, on Friday after party supporters alleged that a team of Dibrugarh Police forcibly entered the premises without prior notice or legal authorisation.

According to party leaders, police personnel arrived at Gogoi’s residence in search of an individual from their party.

However, AJP workers present at the location claimed the police neither produced a warrant nor provided any formal notice before conducting a search of the premises.

AJP secretary Chittaranjan Basumatary alleged that the police entered the residence forcefully and intimidated those present.

“They forcefully barged in and charged inside. They even called the owner of the house and forcefully took his signature. When we questioned them, they were compelled to run away,” Basumatary claimed.

He further alleged that despite repeated requests, the police failed to show any legal documentation authorising the search.

“There was no magistrate with them, no legal notice, yet around 20 to 30 police personnel barged in. They showed us no warrant. Is this a democracy? Do they follow the Indian Constitution?” he said.

The confrontation erupted amid controversy surrounding the poll violence incident reported in Kutuha, Khowang, on the day of voting, with AJP supporters accusing the police of acting in a partisan manner while ignoring complaints lodged against alleged attackers.

Basumatary also accused the police of failing to act on complaints filed by AJP members over the Kutuha violence.

“One of our members got beaten yesterday in Kutuha and till now no one has been arrested. The brother of MLA Chakradhar Gogoi in Khowang has said he would beat everyone. We will never accept these threats,” he alleged.

Another AJP functionary present at the site echoed similar allegations, claiming police searched every room in the residence despite being informed that the person they were looking for did not stay there.

“We repeatedly told them that he does not stay here, but even after that they misbehaved with us and searched each and every room with force,” the party member alleged.

He further claimed that police attempted to seize Form 17C documents, which contain booth-wise voting records and detailed polling data, including voter turnout, votes cast, and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) totals.

“They wished to snatch away Form 17C from us. When we tried to stop them, they threatened to drag us to the police station,” he alleged.

The party leader further accused the ruling dispensation of using the police to intimidate opposition workers amid the ongoing electoral process.

“They are losing and under the initiative of Amrit Ranjan Barman, police officials have been sent. They could not find anything and failed to take anyone with them. When we questioned them on what they found, they ran away,” he claimed.

AJP leaders warned of protests against the police action, stating that supporters would stage demonstrations against the Dibrugarh police administration.

The incident comes a day after violence broke out in Kutuha village under Khowang constituency, where clashes reportedly erupted between BJP and AJP supporters during the Assembly polling process.