05 October,2026 11:45 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Tribal students have been protesting over scholarships, basic amenities in ashram schools and hostels in Maharashtra. Pic/X
The Maharashtra Congress has alleged that police detained several tribal students who were travelling to Mumbai to stage a protest at Azad Maidan demanding the resignation of the state's tribal development minister.
According to the Opposition party, police stopped the students in the early hours of Monday after they arrived in Mumbai to raise concerns over scholarships, basic amenities in ashram schools and hostels, and other issues related to the tribal development department.
The Congress claimed that tribal students had been protesting for more than 10 days over their demands. Several students allegedly travelled to Mumbai by bus and on foot to seek the resignation of the tribal development minister and the department's commissioner, accusing them of failing to address their grievances.
The party claimed that the students were threatened with police cases and that a bus carrying them was taken into custody. It further alleged that Mumbai Police stopped the students around 3 am, photographed them and detained them.
The Congress condemned the alleged action, saying the students had come to Mumbai to raise their demands through a peaceful and democratic protest.
"Threatening students and using police force instead of seriously considering their issues amounts to suppressing democratic values," the party said in a statement, targeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Opposition party also said the students' voices could not be silenced through threats and asserted that it would support them in their "fight for their legitimate rights".
In a separate statement, Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged that police used force and attempted to forcibly enter the party's Tilak Bhavan office, where tribal students from Nashik were staying after walking to Mumbai.
Sapkal claimed that police personnel had been entering the office since midnight, threatening the students and attempting to take them into custody. He demanded that police immediately stop what he described as illegal entry into the office and attempts to threaten and forcibly detain the students.
"It is a serious matter if the police, who are responsible for maintaining law and order, themselves violate the law," he said.
Sapkal said the Congress would not allow any attempt to suppress the voices of tribal students and reiterated the party's support for their demands.
(With inputs from PTI)
