Around 400 activists of Jan Sangharsh Manch detained by the city at Panch Kunwa area of Ahmedabad.

Around 400 activists of Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) were allegedly detained by the city at Panch Kunwa area of Ahmedabad. The JSM activists had gathered for a peace rally in the city at 5pm on Tuesday. JSM alleged that the government had refused the permission to carry out the rally without any reason. Among those arrested were Mukul Sinha, Amrish Patel, Samshad Khan Pathan, Zakia Soman and several riot victims. According to a statement issued by JSM, some 500 armed policemen blocked the venue for the protest and rounded up 385 JSM activists. Of these, 185 were allegedly detained by Shaherkotada police and 200 by Ramol police. However, in-charge police inspector of Ramol MD Upadhyay denied having detained anyone. Maninder Singh Pawar, in-charge DCP of Zone-III, said JSM did not have the permission for the rally. ³They were asked to change the venue but they did not agree. We detained them to maintain the law and order situation,´ he said. JSM alleged it had sought permission for the rally on February 16 but was denied the same and informed of it only on February 26, so that no legal action could be taken. They stated that they approached police commissioner SK Saikia on February 27 proposing a change of route to which he agreed but even this permission was denied in the evening. “The activists were released around 8pm,” said SH Iyer of JSM. He said the police also prevented them from holding a press conference at their office in Paldi by cordoning off the area.