Security was beefed up in Mumbai and Pune besides other parts of Maharashtra ahead of the anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon war that falls on January 1, 2019.
Last year, there was caste violence in Bhima-Koregaon in Pune district in which one youth had died. As part of the series of preventive measures, police detained several persons in Malad, Ghatkopar, Kandivli, Dadar and Worli areas of Mumbai.
Prominent among those include Bhim Army president Chandrashekhar Azad. He has been detained at a hotel and he was barred from addressing public meetings on Mumbai and Pune.
"I have heard of undeclared emergeny, but I have seen it now.... the way voice is being supressed is not good," Azad said in a video message posted on social media.
He said that he experienced this in the land of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution. Meanwhile, NCP MLA Dr Jitendra Ahwad met Azad where he was detained. "What the government has done is wrong. Azad was prevented even from visiting Chaityabhoomi," he said.
In a related development, the Pune Rural police decided not to allow Shiv Prathistan founder Manohar Bhide and Samastha Hindu Aghadi founder Milind Ekbote to Bhima-Koregaon and adjoining villages for the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, special inspector general of police Vishwas Nangre-Patil, who heads the Kolhapur range, said that nearly 5,000 police personnel have been deployed in Bhima-Koregaon and neighbourhood.
Besides, the regular policemen, companies of SRPF and 1,200 home guards have been deployed. "We are also monitoring the content on social media," he said.