Gujarat police, Jignesh Mevani hit out at each other

Heated exchanges took place between independent MLA Jignesh Mevani and cops who detained him while he was on his way to protest at the Ambedkar Statue in Sarangpur on Sunday morning.

In a video shot just before his detention, the Vadgam (SC) MLA is heard shouting at cops after his car keys were damaged in the scuffle.

“Gujarat police is resorting to dadagiri. The police forcibly and illegally entered the car of an elected representative, and damaged the key. The policeman responsible for this should be booked,” Mevani is heard saying in the video while sitting in his car, just before he was taken away.

Mevani also accused police of misbehaving with him and dragging him out of the car. “Is this the way to detain an elected MLA? If a legislator is in this condition, then think about other Dalits,” he wrote on Twitter.

JK Bhatt, JCP (Crime Branch), however, defended the police personnel, and accused Mevani of misbehaviour. “You can see how Mevani behaved with the policemen who were only doing their duty. Even though his behaviour was not proper, the police showed complete restrain,” Bhatt told reporters, referring to the video clip.

The senior cop also said that Mevani was detained as a precaution because unlike other Dalit leaders, he had not given any assurance of maintaining peace during protests. Bhatt added that the police would send a report about Mevani’s detention to the Assembly Speaker as Mevani was a sitting MLA.