Jignesh Mevani detained after Dalit's death

MLA Jignesh Mewani (C) outside the Postmortem room at Civil hospital where the dead body of Bhanubhai Vanakar is kept. Pic/AFP

Protesters blocked roads and held rallies in several parts of Gujarat yesterday, including Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, and Patan in Mehsana district against the failure of the authorities concerned to prevent suicide by Dalit activist Bhanubhai Vanakar on Friday, police said.

The protests were held after police detained Dalit leader and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani, and over 70 others, in Saraspur area of Ahmedabad yesterday morning when they tried to stage demonstrations over Vanakar's death.

City crime branch officials claimed that Mevani did "not behave properly" with the police during his detention. However, the MLA tweeted he was pulled out of a car by police in a "very uncivilised manner".

Vanakar, 62, had set himself ablaze outside the Patan Collector's office on February 15 seeking allotment of land to a Dalit family. He died of burn injuries at a private hospital in Ahmedabad the next day. His body is still lying at Gandhinagar civil hospital as his kin refused to accept it.

70
No of people detained for trying to protest

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