Stand-up comedian Masoom Rajwani and several others were detained by Mumbai Police on Sunday for participating in a candlelight vigil in memory of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode, who died by suicide last month, an official said.
A total of 140 people were taken into preventive custody at Shivaji Park and Chaityabhoomi. Of these, about 120 people who had gathered at Shivaji Park for an unauthorised 'Adivasi Gen Z' protest were rounded up and taken to a local police station.
Separately, police detained 20 to 25 people who had gathered at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar for an unauthorised candle march in memory of Wakode, the official said.
Chaityabhoomi is the cremation site of D. B. R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Those detained at Chaityabhoomi included Rajwani and others, the official said, adding that the gatherings lacked the necessary permissions and that precautions were being taken to maintain law and order in the area.
The process of completing official formalities and releasing the detainees was under way, he added.
Wakode was found hanging in his hostel room on September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination. His parents and student groups alleged that he had faced torture and caste-based discrimination.
A police complaint named professor Suryanarayana Doolla and invoked provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, along with abetment of suicide. The Mumbai Crime Branch recorded statements from more than 40 people.
Those detained included tribal students and protesters who had planned to hold a 'Janakrosh Morcha' demanding the resignation of Maharashtra Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike, as well as the tribal development department's commissioner and secretary, youth workers said.
The youth workers said police detained students at Dadar railway station and near Tilak Bhavan before they could reach the proposed protest venue. Police personnel were also deployed at railway stations and bus stops along routes leading to Shivaji Park.
The students had been protesting for the past two months, but the tribal development department had not addressed their grievances, according to the youth workers.
The protesters had sought permission to demonstrate at Azad Maidan, but police denied their request. They were also refused permission to hold Sunday's march at Shivaji Park. The protesters subsequently announced that they would proceed with the demonstration, the youth workers said.
Police had deployed a large security contingent at Shivaji Park ahead of the planned march. Plainclothes personnel were also present at Dadar railway station, the youth workers said.
Police detained some students and protesters before they could reach the proposed venue, citing security concerns, they said.
The students are demanding improvements in conditions at tribal schools and the scrapping of the contract system for centralised kitchens in tribal residential schools, among other measures. The planned march could not take place following the detentions, the youth workers added.
(With inputs from PTI)
