The arrest of activist Pranab Doley has intensified fears among Adivasi families in Kaziranga over land ownership disputes, as they seek support in their legal battles.
Kohima, India Jul 15, 2026 ALN: The arrest of activist Pranab Doley, convenor of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC), on July 13 has become the latest flashpoint in the long-running dispute over nearly 60 bighas of land at Ingle Pothar, on the fringes of Kaziranga National Park.
The Assam government maintains that the land belongs to the state and has earmarked around 30 bighas each for a proposed Tea Tribes Museum and a Hyatt hotel. Several Adivasi families, however, claim they have cultivated paddy there for generations and possess land-related documents.
The dispute has, over the past few years, led to protests, legal proceedings, and competing claims over ownership.
For many villagers, Doley was more than a protest leader. They say he was the person they turned to whenever they had to visit government offices, understand official documents, or negotiate with the administration. His arrest has now left many wondering who will help them navigate the legal battle ahead.
According to Minali Gowala, who claims her family lost around eight bighas of agricultural land in Ingle Pothar, the day Doley was arrested was also the day villagers had planned to hold a public meeting regarding the ongoing land dispute.
Villagers had planned to assemble around 8 am in a field near the labour lines of Hatikhuli Tea Estate to discuss the long-running dispute over Ingle Pothar. The meeting, however, never took place.
“We wanted to discuss what to do next,” she recalled. “But before we could even gather, there were police personnel everywhere. We were told we did not have permission to hold the meeting.”
Videos circulating on social media from the same day appear to show a significant police deployment near the meeting site and a confrontation between members of the Adivasi community and police personnel. The circumstances that led to the deployment could not be independently verified.
“We want Pranab Doley to be released. We don’t think he has done anything wrong. He is not fighting for himself; he has only been helping us,” Gowala said and then explained what that help meant.
“We don’t understand the legal jargon. These days, most official discussions happen in Assamese. We’re afraid that if we simply nod because we don’t understand, someone might later say that we agreed to something we never did. That’s why Pranab Doley always accompanied us to meetings. He would explain things to us and help us understand the process.”
It is a sentiment echoed by some Adivasi families living around Ingle Pothar.
“I am 70 years old now. I’ve been farming since I was 18. We never imagined this land would be taken away from us. Then one day, fencing came up all around it, and we were no longer allowed to enter. There are police personnel everywhere. It feels like we are fighting against the government.
We kept hoping that someone influential would come forward to help us, but no one did. I am not educated. We were cheated. Right now, only Pranab Doley is standing with us. He can read and write. He understands the legal process. We can speak Assamese, but we cannot read or understand official documents.
Our ancestors have been cultivating this land since the British era.
— Mangra Munda, who says he lost around six bighas of agricultural land.
One of the most visible faces of the protest is Gita Gowala, who says she lost 12 bighas of agricultural land in Ingle Pothar.
A video circulating on social media shows her leading protesters through the streets, chanting, “Pranab Daak mukti lagibo, Adivasi ulai ahisu” (“Pranab Doley must be released. We, the Adivasis, have come out in protest.”)
Gowala said the dispute changed life for dozens of families who once depended on the land for cultivation. When visited her home in Ingle Pothar, she pointed towards the fenced land a short distance away. The field she pointed to is now separated by fencing. Police personnel have been deployed in the area.
Gowala says her house is now the last one standing in Ingle Pothar.
“We heard that a Hyatt hotel would be built here. We went to the authorities with our khazana receipts and asked them to measure the land and return whatever belonged to us,” she said.
“Around 40–45 families once cultivated this land, but it has been nearly four years since we have been able to farm. Now we survive by working in the tea gardens. We leave at 8 in the morning and return at 4 in the evening. Only then do we earn enough to eat.”
In a 2024 report, Mongabay-India quoted a Hyatt Hotels spokesperson as saying that Hyatt had no projects in Kaziranga at the time.
According to the FIR registered at Bokakhat Police Station, the case stems from an incident on June 28 at Ingle Pothar. Police allege that a group of named accused, along with around 50 unidentified persons, assembled at Rongajan field near Hatikhuli before proceeding towards the proposed Tea Tribes Museum site and the ATDC project premises.
The FIR alleges that the group entered the project site despite repeated directions from police and the Executive Magistrate to disperse, removed survey ribbons and other demarcation materials, threatened construction workers, and attempted to set fire to a cement mixer by pouring diesel over it.
Police further allege that members of the group assaulted police personnel deployed at the site, injuring 13 police personnel, including a woman police officer who allegedly sustained grievous injuries. Government property, including a police polycarbonate shield, was also allegedly damaged.
The FIR names Pranab Doley as one of the accused. In the grounds of arrest submitted before the court, the investigating officer described him as one of the “masterminds” behind the alleged unlawful assembly.
Court records show that Doley was apprehended on July 12, formally arrested in the early hours of July 13, and produced before the SDJM, Bokakhat, later that morning.
In seeking police custody, the Investigating Officer told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary, among other reasons, “to find the anti-national entities at large.” The Investigating Officer also told the court that the accused persons had a frequent travel history to several countries and links with “many radical groups.”
Advocate Mritunjay Pegu of Bokakhat Bar Association, who represents Doley, rejected the allegations and questioned the arrest.
“On July 13, the court granted seven days of police remand for Pranab Doley. We opposed the remand, submitting that Doley had contested elections and has been vocal against the proposed Hyatt hotel project. In our view, the case appears to be politically motivated,” he said.
“The police have invoked several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 326(g), which is a serious charge. According to the FIR, the allegation is that kerosene or diesel was poured on a cement mixer with the intention of setting it on fire. We dispute these allegations.”
Pegu said the court directed that Doley should not be subjected to custodial torture and should undergo a daily medical examination while in police custody.
According to the court order dated July 13, the bail applications of members of Kaziranga Bhoomi Suraksha Committee, Rajib Pegu and Bhaskar Saikia were rejected, following which they were remanded to judicial custody. The court also granted seven days’ police remand of Amit Nag, President of the Jai Bharat Party’s Golaghat unit.
In a statement issued after Doley’s arrest, the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC) rejected the allegations in the FIR, describing them as fabricated.
The committee alleged that Doley was not involved in the confrontation during the June 28 protest and that he and other activists had instead “attempted to verbally negotiate with the authorities to assuage the situation” and later tried to peacefully negotiate with police officers. In its statement, GKLHRPC also claimed to possess video footage recorded during the June 28 protest.
In an interview recorded before his arrest, Doley questioned both the compensation being offered to affected families and the scale of the proposed tourism project.
“People feel their concerns are not really being heard. Instead, they are simply told to accept compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. But ₹3 lakh is not enough for them. This land is not just about money. It is meant to sustain future generations of the Adivasi community,” he said.
He also questioned the scale of the proposed project.
“Local people have built small homestays and restaurants in Kaziranga, and those are part of the local economy. But a five-star hotel with multiple swimming pools, multi-storey buildings, and luxury facilities is a different matter altogether. It is obvious that a big fish will eat the little fish.”
Doley argued that Tea Tribe communities should have a greater say in deciding how the land is used, saying that agriculture had long provided families with food security and that land in Kaziranga had become increasingly valuable.
The criminal case against Pranab Doley runs parallel to an ongoing civil dispute over the ownership and demarcation of the land in Ingle Pothar.
Advocate Santanu Borthakur, who represents 12 petitioners before the Gauhati High Court in the land dispute, said the petition primarily seeks demarcation of the land and a direction restraining the eviction process.
“Some of the petitioners hold miyadi pattas, some are khatian holders, meaning they are recorded ryots, while others claim possession through allotment. Based on these documents, they have been occupying different plots of land.”
According to Borthakur, the dispute escalated after the district revenue authorities decided to hand over the land to the Assam Tourism Development Corporation for the proposed Hyatt hotel project.
“When the revenue authorities decided to hand over the land, the government started taking possession without issuing notices and without following the procedure established by law. That is when protests began, and in 2025 we challenged the process before the Gauhati High Court.”
Borthakur said the central question before the court is whether the land claimed by the petitioners corresponds with the land records they possess.
“If a patta exists against a particular plot, there has to be land corresponding to that patta. If the government says this is not their land, then where is their land? It is the responsibility of the Revenue Department to demarcate it,” he said.
Bokakhat MLA Atul Bora, while speaking with reporters on July 13, defended the project, maintaining that the land belongs to the government.
He said around 30 bighas had been earmarked for the Tea Tribes Museum and another 30 bighas for the Hyatt hotel.
Bora said the government had begun distributing land pattas across Assam, with nearly 30,000 people having already received pattas and a target of 3.5 lakh beneficiaries.
He added that, after consultations with various Tea Tribe organisations, the government decided to provide ₹5 lakh as compensation to affected families, of which ₹3 lakh had already been disbursed. According to Bora, 22 families have accepted the compensation.
The author is an independent journalist from Assam and the creator of SideEye Megha, a YouTube channel dedicated to long-form videos.
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