India: Indigenous activist arrested after protesting luxury hotel project
July 13, 2026
© The Greater Kaziranga land and human rights committeeDozens of police officers in India have arrested the prominent Indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley, and two other men. Two others surrendered to the court after police came looking for them.
Police surrounded the house where Mr Doley was staying on Sunday, and took him into custody without an arrest warrant.
His arrest, which was caught on camera, comes after years of campaigning against conservation-related human rights abuses, and plans for a five-star Hyatt hotel near the notorious Kaziranga National Park — built on land Adivasi (Indigenous) people have rights to.
As he was being arrested Mr Doley, a member of the Mising Indigenous people, said: “What kind of democracy is this if we are not allowed to raise the voice of the people? The police who came to arrest me didn’t produce any arrest warrant.”
Kaziranga National Park, which Prince William and the Princess of Wales visited in 2016, has long had a reputation for violence and brutality meted out by its guards against the Indigenous people who once lived inside it, and have now been kicked out and live around its edges.
For many years it has had a shoot on sight policy, which has led to dozens of people being killed there.
© Agence France Presse
Armed guards on patrol in Kaziranga National Park, India. The BBC revealed that rangers in Kaziranga had shot dead 106 people in 20 years.
The planned Hyatt hotel has reportedly led to the eviction of over 45 Adivasi families, and will affect the livelihoods of hundreds more. It is part of a wider plan by the Assam government to transfer vast tracts of land next to the park to private companies to build luxury resorts.
The Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC) (of which Mr Doley is the convenor) said in a statement “[We] deny these targeted and egregious charges imposed on Pranab Doley and other activists and demand their immediate release.
“We strongly condemn the unlawful treatment meted out to Pranab Doley and other activists. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of the three activists, and that the Assam government stops the harassment of indigenous activists, who have been defending the rights of the affected Adivasi communities.”
Survival International’s Director Caroline Pearce said today: “Mr Doley has done nothing wrong and should be released immediately. On the contrary: he is the one standing up against the land theft, eviction and abuse imposed on Indigenous people in India in the name of “conservation”. These arrests are just one more example of this repression. The authorities must release Mr Doley and the others who have been arrested, and cease valuing conservation and tourism over the fundamental rights of Indigenous peoples.”
Note to Editors:
- Those now in custody are:
- Pranab Doley - remanded in police custody for 7 days
- Amit Nag and Brijit Kutum - in police custody
- Bhaskar Saikia and Rajiv Pegu - surrendered to the court and have been detained
