AHMEDABAD : Protests against the state government for alleged apathy in the self-immolation case of a dalit activist — Bhanu Vankar — intensified on Sunday as protesters from Dalit community tried to impose a bandh in Ahmedabad. However, their efforts failed as police detained Mevani and hundreds of other protesters on Sunday morning, before they could gather at the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar in Sarangpur area. Mevani, along with his supporters, were detained from Kalupur when they were on their way to the protest venue. Later in the evening, Mevani along with his supporters were released by the city police.Meanwhile, family members of Vankar and Dalit activists held discussions with principal secretary social justice, Kamal Dayani, Gandhinagar collector and police officials till late in the night regarding the cremation. The government promised to fulfil their demands ranging from the allocation of land to landless Dalits, to forming a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the incident. Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel requested the family to go ahead with the cremation. “ Some elements are trying to take personal advantage by politicizing the issue,” Patel said.A video of the detention had gone viral in which the Dalit leader is seen having a verbal spat with police. He is seen asking a policeman about his badge number when the cops were trying to detain him. Later, Mevani alleged that he was manhandled by the police and his car keys were broken by cops.Mevani said, “We will not let the sacrifice of Bhanubhai go in vain. The Gujarat government has shown its cruel face by detaining me and my supporters.”Going all out against the state government, Mevani said, “We want resignation of Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and President’s rule in Gujarat.”Mevani along with his close aide Subodh Parmar were detained and taken to Special Operations Group (SOG) headquarters in Juhapura. Apart from Mevani and Parmar, around 40 protesters were detained from Sarangpur where there was huge deployment of city police and Rapid Action Force (RAF). Around 40 others were detained from Jashodanagar crossroads. Twenty-eight persons were detained in Unjha, six in Mehsana and 29 in Patan.Reports of violence kept trickling in through the day. A group of around 30 people pelted stones at BJP office on Patan highway at around 7:30pm A constable of Gadhsheesha police station in Patan, Khumansinh, was injured by a stone thrown by protesters.Heavy vehicles like trucks were stopped midway between Patan and Siddhpur after a mob blocked the highway. Protesters also blocked the road near Bindu Sarovar in Siddhpur town. A group of women also gheraoed Patan SP Ashwin Chauhan.