A day after securing bail in a case relating to protests against a proposed five-star hotel near Kaziranga National Park in Assam, indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on Thursday
The National Security Act, 1980, allows the government to detain a person without trial or formal charges for up to 12 months.
According to The Reporters' Collective, Doley and indigenous families in Assam's Golaghat district have, for the past four years, been opposing a proposed five-star luxury resort on the edge of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Doley, the convenor of the Greater Kaziranga Land and Human Rights Protection Committee (GKLHRPC), was arrested in Guwahati on July 13 and lodged in the Golaghat district jail. Three others were also arrested between July 12 and 13 in connection with a gathering held on June 28 to oppose the proposed hotel project.
On Wednesday, a court granted Doley bail in the case relating to the June 28 protest. However, a day later, the Assam government invoked the NSA to detain him.
The order issued by the Political (A) Department stated that the government was satisfied Doley's activities were "prejudicial to the maintenance of public order as well as security of the state" and that there was a "real and imminent possibility" of him continuing such activities if released.
Invoking Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, the order said preventive detention was necessary and directed that Doley be detained at the Golaghat District Jail.
Doley has been at the forefront of protests against the proposed five-star hotel near the UNESCO World Heritage Site, arguing that the project threatens the area's fragile ecology.
A peasants' rights activist, Doley also unsuccessfully contested the April Assembly elections from the Bokakhat constituency against AGP president and Assam Cabinet minister Atul Bora.
