Mumbai police detain tribal students protesting scholarship delays, Congress says

Mumbai Police detained several tribal students in the early hours of Monday to stop them staging a demonstration at Azad Maidan over unpaid government scholarships, according to the Maharashtra Congress.

Party leaders claimed officers intercepted a bus carrying students at around 3 am, photographed the passengers, and took them into custody. The students had travelled to the capital from across the state—many walking on foot from Nashik—after holding local demonstrations for more than ten days over systemic neglect in state-run residential facilities.

Alongside the road detentions, police personnel attempted to force their way into Tilak Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters in central Mumbai, where several students who walked from Nashik were resting overnight, state party president Harshvardhan Sapkal said.

Why tribal students are protesting in Mumbai

The students travelled to Mumbai to seek the resignation of Maharashtra's tribal development minister and the department's commissioner. Their grievances centre on long-standing administrative failures, notably persistent delays in releasing higher education scholarship funds and substandard living conditions inside government-run ashram schools and student hostels.

For more than a week, student groups had organised local actions across tribal belts, demanding immediate disbursement of scholarship arrears and guaranteed basic amenities, including clean water, decent food, and adequate bedding in state hostels. Having received no formal resolution from the tribal development department, several contingents set out for Mumbai to take their agitation directly to Azad Maidan.

Police action at Tilak Bhavan and highway stops

According to Sapkal, police units arrived outside Tilak Bhavan around midnight and repeatedly tried to enter the premises to round up students sleeping inside. He accused officers of threatening the youngsters with criminal cases if they proceeded with the planned march to Azad Maidan.

"It is a serious matter if the police, who are responsible for maintaining law and order, themselves violate the law," Sapkal said, calling the midnight intrusion into a political party's office an unlawful attempt to quash a peaceful gathering.

The Congress linked the clampdown directly to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, arguing that deploying police against students exposing administrative failures undermines fundamental democratic rights. The party maintained that the students carried no weapons and intended only to hold a peaceful sit-in until officials addressed their concerns.

Unanswered questions and what happens next

Mumbai Police and the state government have not released an official statement detailing how many students were taken into custody, where they are currently held, or under which legal provisions the pre-dawn detentions were carried out. It also remains unconfirmed whether any formal charges have been filed against the students or the bus operators.

Congress leaders stated they will provide legal assistance to the detained students and pursue administrative complaints regarding the police entry into Tilak Bhavan, insisting the agitation for tribal welfare funding will continue despite the crackdown.