MUMBAI: Stand-up comedian Masoom Rajwani and several others were detained by Mumbai Police on Sunday for participating in a candlelight vigil for IIT-Bombay student Sahil Wakode, who died by suicide last month, an official told news agency PTI.A total of 140 people were detained at Shivaji Park and Chaityabhoomi.Around 120 people who had gathered at Shivaji Park for an unauthorised ‘Adivasi Gen Z’ protest were rounded up and taken to the local police station.Separately, police detained 20 to 25 people who had assembled at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar for an unauthorised candle march in memory of Wakode, the official said.Chaityabhoomi is the cremation site of Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.Rajwani and others were among those detained at Chaityabhoomi, the police official said, adding that the gatherings had not obtained the necessary permissions. Precautions were being taken to maintain law and order in the area.The process of completing official formalities and releasing those detained is underway, the official added.Wakode was found hanging in his hostel room on September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination.His parents and student groups had alleged that he faced torture and caste-based discrimination.A police complaint was filed naming professor Suryanarayana Doolla and invoking provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, along with abetment of suicide.The Mumbai Crime Branch recorded statements from more than 40 people.(With inputs from PTI)
