July 12, 2026. The Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of Pranab Doley, an Indigenous human rights defender and a leading advocate for the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, livelihoods, and environmental rights in Assam, India.
The arrest is reportedly linked to a criminal complaint registered at Bokakhat Police Station and follows Mr. Doley’s leadership in the peaceful movement opposing the proposed Hyatt luxury hotel project at Inglay (Inle) Pathar, on the fringes of Kaziranga National Park.
According to credible information received, on July 12, 2026, approximately 100 police personnel surrounded the house where Mr. Doley was staying in Guwahati and arrested him without producing an arrest warrant. His mobile phone was immediately confiscated, and he was denied contact with supporters.
Mr. Doley was taken to Dispur Police Station, where he was initially detained before being transferred to the custody of Bokakhat Police in connection with a criminal complaint reportedly filed on 29 June 2026. According to available information, authorities have brought 13 criminal charges against him, at least three of which are non-bailable. These include criminal conspiracy; membership in an unlawful assembly; rioting; rioting while armed with a deadly weapon; obstructing a public servant in the discharge of official duties; assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from performing official functions; voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from duty; mischief; aggravated mischief; criminal trespass; criminal intimidation involving threats of death or grievous harm; assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty; and attempt to commit an offence punishable with life imprisonment or other imprisonment.
We have also received alarming reports that police raided Mr. Doley’s ancestral home in search of Mr. Rajiv Pegu, another member of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee. The raid raises serious concerns that authorities are expanding their crackdown on Indigenous leaders involved in the peaceful defense of community land rights. Video footage circulating publicly shows Mr. Doley stating that he was arrested without any papers, declaring: “We can’t even be the voice of the people. What kind of democracy is this?”
IPRI is deeply concerned that this arrest appears to be a deliberate attempt to silence Indigenous voices resisting the acquisition of Indigenous lands for the proposed Hyatt hotel project. Communities have consistently opposed the project, arguing that it threatens their ancestral lands, livelihoods, agricultural fields, biodiversity, and the ecological integrity of the Kaziranga landscape. Mr. Doley was also a leading figure in the opposition to the ADB-funded solar farms along with affected communities in Karbi Anglong district, Assam, due to the serious impacts of this project to their livelihoods and control of their lands among others.
This pattern of intimidation demonstrates an increasingly coordinated effort to criminalize Indigenous human rights defenders rather than address the legitimate concerns raised by affected communities. The use of excessive police deployment, arbitrary arrests, raids on family homes, and sweeping criminal charges against peaceful activists creates a climate of fear intended to weaken community resistance to land dispossession.
Defending Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories, and natural resources is not a crime. Peacefully opposing forced land acquisition and environmentally destructive projects is a legitimate exercise of internationally protected human rights.
IPRI urgently calls on the Government of India to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Pranab Doley.
- Guarantee his physical and psychological wellbeing and integrity and ensure his immediate access to legal counsel, family members, and independent medical care.
- Cease all acts of intimidation, surveillance, harassment, and criminalization against members of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee, including Rajiv Pegu and other Indigenous community leaders.
- Withdraw any charges that are intended to punish the legitimate exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and the defense of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
- Immediately halt any process of land acquisition related to the proposed Hyatt hotel project until the rights of affected Indigenous communities have been fully respected, including their right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
The arbitrary detention of Indigenous human rights defenders for peacefully protecting their ancestral lands is a grave violation of fundamental human rights. Pranab Doley must be released immediately.
The criminalization of Indigenous Peoples defending their lands and territories must end.
