Ahmedabad, Feb 18: Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani, along with others was detained by Gujarat police en route to a rally in Ahmedabad, where scores of protesters had gathered to demonstrate against the suicide of Dalit activist Bhanu Vankar.

Vankar, who was fighting for landless Dalit farm labourers in North Gujarat, set himself ablaze outside the Collector's Office in Patan on February 15. On Friday, he succumbed to the injuries.

The Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, headed by Mevani, held the Gujarat government responsible for his suicide, claiming that the state has failed to allot land to landless Dalit labourers, despite being mandated to do so.

Vankar had petitioned the Patan Collector, seeking  allotment of a land in Dudhka village of Sami taluka to two Dalits - who had reportedly paid 22,236 as land procurement fees in 2013.

With his plight being unaddressed on multiple occasions, Vankar committed suicide at the Patan collectorate on Thursday.

Following his death, scores of political activists had galvanised in North Gujarat. Among those who visited the victims' kin include Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel, OBC leader Aplesh Thakur and Congress legislator and Dalit leader Naushad Solanki.

Both Solanki and Mevani are among the dozen-odd protesters who were taken into preventive custody on Sunday.

"Jignesh Mevani was pulled out of the car in a very uncivilised manner, his car keys were broken and detained by the police while on the way to a peaceful protest at Ambedkar statue in Sarangpur, Ahmedabad. The protest was organised to meet the demands of deceased Bhanuji family," said the twitter handle of Mevani.

Meanwhile, Rapid Action Force (RAF) units were deployed in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to prevent the demonstrations from turning violent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2018 06:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).