Barpeta, Assam: Raijor Dal leader Ashraful Islam was detained by police in Chapar in Assam’s Dhubri district on Wednesday (September 3).Islam and his team along with Sandeep Pandey, leader of the Socialist Party (India), were headed towards the area in Bilasipara from which around 2,000 families were evicted on July 8 in order to make way for a proposed 3,400 MW thermal power plant.Around 2:30 pm, the team was near Chirakuta village – one of the village blocks where the eviction took place – to see what condition evicted persons are living in, when the police stopped them.Rakibul Mandol of the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS), the student wing of the Raijor Dal party, said: “The police stopped us as we were entering the village. They told us that there are no people living in the area. Then we argued that there are several families living in makeshift tents. But the police did not let us enter.”After arguing with the police for some time, the team decided to return. Then the police called them back and detained Islam and Akhtar Hussain, district president of the SMSS, and took them to the Salkocha outpost under the Chapar police’s jurisdiction.Jamal Haque, Dhubri district president of the Raijor Dal, told The Wire: “We have been protesting against the eviction drive and demanding proper rehabilitation since the eviction drive was carried out. That is why the police is targeting us.“The police let go of Sanjib Pandey and his team.”Ashraful Islam with Sandeep Pandey in Dhubri on September 3. Photo by arrangement.Nabajit Lahon, officer in charge of the Chapar police station, told The Wire: “We have not arrested him. We brought him to the Salkocha outpost to do some inquiries.”Nazimul Haque, president of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti of Dhubri, told The Wire that Islam was released at around 9 pm and that Akhtar Hussain has been taken to the Chapar police station.He said, “We sat for an 11-day protest in Chapar against the eviction drive last month. Akhtar was one of the people leading the protest. The police is giving excuses saying he has been detained in an old case.”During the demolition drive on July 8, Raijor Dal chief and MLA Akhil Gogoi had visited the site. The police detained him while he interacted with residents.According to Raijor Dal workers, the police have not given a proper reason for the detention of their leaders.Per official estimates, the July 8 eviction drive in Bilasipara saw some 1,400 homes – mostly belonging to Miya Muslim families – being demolished, with locals pegging the number at over 2,000.Following the evictions, many erstwhile residents reported receiving SMSs that applications had been filed on their behalf to remove them from the local electoral rolls. Some who were rendered homeless by the demolitions also reported harassment by police officers following the eviction drive.This story was edited to correct Akhtar Hussain’s name.