The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) West Bengal has alleged that police detained several of its activists across the state on October 8 to prevent them from travelling to Delhi to participate in an October 10 protest demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Sekh Abdul Hafeez, whose father, Sekh Mohammad Mafik, was allegedly murdered by BJP men in Bankura in August 2026, and four other CJP activists were detained from a hotel in New Town, near Amity University, around 8:30 am on Thursday. Abdul later posted a video on Instagram alleging that the police had slapped them and forced them to sign a written undertaking stating that they had not been manhandled. The activists were detained for more than 13 hours, he claimed, before being released around 9:30 pm.
According to CJP east zone coordinator Prakriti Sahu, police detained activists from several districts in an attempt to prevent them from travelling to Delhi.
“Apart from Abdul and four of our compatriots, police detained our workers in Howrah and Malda as well. Cops visited the residences of our activists and threatened them and their families in places such as Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas and Howrah. The same thing is happening in Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts as well. The administration is afraid that a large number of youths from West Bengal are going to Delhi to participate in the October 10 protest. So they have stooped to such antics to prevent the mobilization,” said Prakriti.
‘Picked up from Hotel Room No Reason Cited’
According to CJP sources, Abdul and four other CJP workers — Amina Khan, Sana Rahaman, Sananda Ghosh and Habibul Islam — had come to Kolkata to board a train to Delhi. They were staying at a hotel in New Town when, around 8:30 am, a large contingent of police personnel entered the hotel and detained them.
CJP leadership alleged that the women were assaulted by male police personnel, grabbed by the waist and had their mobile phones forcibly confiscated. The male workers were also allegedly assaulted.
“We got text messages from Amina, Sana and Sananda around 8:30 am saying that the police had detained them. After that, we could not contact them. It was totally blank. We frantically started searching for them. Our legal team visited both New Town and Rajarhat police stations, but they could not be found,” said Prakriti.
According to CJP, police personnel forcibly entered the room where the women were staying and detained them, leaving the three women with minor injuries. The organisation alleged that the police action was arbitrary and that no reason for the detention was given or warrants shown.
“After we failed to track the detained workers, our national legal team intervened. Through their efforts, we were able to locate the five workers and found out that they had been taken to Bidhannagar North police station. Although the police claimed that they had released Abdul and the others around 6:30 pm, we could not trace them until 9:30 pm,” said Prakriti.
According to the outfit, the group was scheduled to board a Delhi bound train on Thursday. They now plan to reach Delhi by other means.
Abdul Hafeez Narrates Ordeal in Instagram Videos
Around 9:30 pm, Abdul posted three videos on his Instagram account. In the first video, a woman with swollen ankles is seen alongside another woman who appears to have fainted. They are identified as Amina Khan and Sana Rahaman, respectively. According to Abdul, Sana had recently turned 18, but was allegedly subjected to police harassment.
In the second video, another woman’s arms are shown with what appear to be scratch marks. The woman is identified as Sananda Ghosh. Abdul alleges that they were treated brutally, “as if they were terrorists”, and were verbally and physically abused. He also alleges that the police forced them to record a video confession stating that the police had not misbehaved with them.
In the second and third videos, Abdul says that after leaving the police station, they went to Seba Hospital in Salt Lake Sector 1 for a medical check up.
In the third video, he alleges that the police followed them to the hospital as well and that they feared they might be detained again and sent to jail.
In one of the videos, Abdul mentions that they were initially kept at the Eco Park police station before being transferred to Bidhannagar North police station.
According to CJP sources, police had threatened Abdul that if he did not stop protesting, stringent charges would be slapped against him and he would not be able to come out of jail for at least six years.
In August, Sekh Abdul Hafeez had come under attack in his village of Karisunda in West Bengal’s Bankura district after returning from a CJP protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Hafeez alleged that local BJP workers had threatened him over his support for CJP and his social media posts, and later targeted him after he joined the organisation’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign to document the dilapidated condition of a government primary school. On August 13, 2026, a group of men allegedly attacked him at his home; his father, Sekh Mohammad Mafik, was assaulted when he intervened to protect his son. Mafik died of his injuries on August 15. Hafeez alleged that the attackers took away his phone and deleted videos documenting the assault. Eight people were arrested in connection with the case. Standing beside CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka, Hafeez later said he did not want compensation for his father’s death, but wanted the money to be used to build a world-class school in the village.
Several ACP, DCP-ranked Officers Involved in Detention, Interrogation
Alt News reached out to Kishore Sinha Chowdhury, the inspector in-charge of Bidhannagar North police station, who admitted that the activists were taken to his police station, but denied the allegations of a scuffle or manhandling.
“The incident in question is not our case. Eco Park police station had received complaints against the accused political workers and had detained them. They contacted us, saying they wanted to bring the accused to my police station for interrogation. An ACP-rank officer of the Bidhannagar City Police also forwarded the request. As I was busy overseeing security for the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan derby throughout the day yesterday, I was not present at the police station. However, I had instructed my duty officer to ensure that no scuffle or fight broke out on the premises,” he said.
The officer added that his duty officer had informed him that a woman officer of deputy commissioner rank from the Kolkata Police had also arrived to interrogate the detainees. Officers from the Eco Park police station were present as well, he said, adding that DC New Town Jyotirmoy Roy was also involved in the process.
“I can say with certainty that no incident of assault took place inside my police station. I was very cautious to ensure that,” Chowdhury further said.
Similar Actions Elsewhere
Like in New Town, CJP activists from Howrah were allegedly rounded up from their homes and detained for almost 12 hours.
“Three of our workers — Sheikh Siraj, Ranajit Koley and Salamuddin — were detained from their residences on Thursday around 12 pm. The Howrah City Police initially took them to Tikiapara police station, but after that, we lost track of them,” said Prakriti.
The three detainees were shuttled between police stations before being sent to three separate police stations. Salamuddin was sent to Shibpur police station, Sheikh Siraj to Bankra police station and Ranajit Koley to Jagacha police station. All three were released between 11:30 pm and 12:30 am.
Two other CJP workers, Sufian and Iqbal, were also detained. However, it was not clear till 1 am what happened to them.
Families Threatened
According to the CJP, the police harassment also extended to the families of some activists. In Howrah, the family members of CJP worker Sunil Tiwari were allegedly threatened with severe consequences if he travelled to Delhi. Sanket Patra, a student from Sonarpur, had not disclosed to his family that he planned to travel to Delhi. To force him to abandon his plans, his father was taken to Sonarpur police station, where, according to the CJP, he was pressured to dissuade his son.
“The police have started calling our leading organisers in other districts as well, such as Malda, Purba and Paschim Medinipur. Questions such as ‘Are you going to Delhi on October 10?’, ‘Where will you be on that day?’ or ‘Why are you going to Delhi?’ are being asked by police when they call our workers and activists. Police are trying to create an environment of fear by doing such things. How can the police randomly ask why someone is going to join a protest movement?” said Prakriti.
“Is it a crime in India to participate in a peaceful and democratic protest?” asked Prakriti.
