The Noida Police on Monday detained a Delhi University professor, shoved him into a police jeep and allegedly used abusive language against him after mistaking him for a Dalit protestor. They released Rakesh Sinha and apologised to him only after they confirmed his identity and realised that he is also a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader.

The police were patrolling several areas in Noida and Gurugram after multiple Dalit organisations called for a nationwide shutdown to protest against a Supreme Court judgement that protects a public servant from being arrested under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act without a preliminary inquiry. At least nine people died in the protests on Monday.

Sinha said he was outside the office of a news organisation in Noida on Monday evening when the police picked him up.

“They put me in their car. I kept telling them that I am from the RSS but they didn’t listen to me,” Sinha told The Indian Express. “Those with me also told them that I was not a protester. They took me a few metres away and kept saying that I was a Dalit protester.”

Sinha added that they dropped him back at the studio after confirming his identity. “The station house officer of the area called me to apologise later,” he said.

Sinha told ANI that there were eight policemen, led by the Noida SHO, and that they used abusive language. “The police later said they suspected me to be a Dalit protester,” Sinha said, adding, “I appeal to the police that basic human rights and dignity of a person should be kept in mind.”

The police said they released Sinha as soon as they “realised their mistake”, News18 reported. “Our teams were looking for people when they saw him in the Film City area and mistook him for a protester,” said Anil Kumar Shahi, SHO, Noida Sector 20 police station. “He was let off as soon as we realised our mistake.”