Video shows Jignesh Mevani pulled out of car allegedly by Gujarat Police

A video uploaded on Sunday shows Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani has apparently been roughly pulled out of his car en route to a protest in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

A tweet from Jignesh Mevani’s handle said that 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 (sic) family.”

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union Vice President Shehla Rashid tweeted the video, and alleged that Mevani had been “abducted by Gujarat Police” en route to protest “reiterating the demands of Dalit martyr Bhanu bhai”.

The video can be seen below:

Jignesh Mevani has further tweeted that “Situation at the moment - peaceful protestors mainly in Ahmedabad and across the State are being detained for supporting deceased Bhanu bhai's cause.”

Earlier on February 15, Dalit Bhanubhai Vankar had set himself on fire at the Patan district collectorate demanding physical possession of land allotted to a Dalit family. Vankar succumbed to his burn injuries on February 16 night at a private hospital in Ahmedabad. A furious Mevani had said "The Chief Minister (Vijay Rupani) should drown himself in the Narmada river. Gujarat does not belong to Rupani's father," while leading protests on the Ahmedabad-Gandhingar highway. Mevani had appealed to Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor to join him in intensifying the stir in the state from Sunday.

Also read: Gujarat: Mevani, Hardik, Alpesh up ante as anger over Dalit activist’s death snowballs