Adivasi students who marched from Nashik to Mumbai demanding accountability over deaths, unsafe conditions and inadequate facilities in tribal schools and hostels were detained for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, October 6, and forcibly taken out of the city, after police prevented them from leaving the Maharashtra Congress headquarters at Tilak Bhavan. The students had been staying at the Congress office after being denied permission to hold their protest at Azad Maidan.
आंदोलन करणाऱ्या आदिवासी विद्यार्थ्यांना पोलिसांनी काँग्रेस कार्यालयातून ताब्यात घेतलं तेव्हा…
#TribalStudents #TribalProtest #MumbaiProtest @ShahidReports https://t.co/c8qElBftET— BBC News Marathi (@bbcnewsmarathi) October 6, 2026
आंदोलन करणाऱ्या आदिवासी विद्यार्थ्यांना पोलिसांनी काँग्रेस कार्यालयातून ताब्यात घेतलं?
#TribalStudents #AdivasiStudents #AdivasiProtest https://t.co/ylGy3lj9as— BBC News Marathi (@bbcnewsmarathi) October 5, 2026
STORY | Police detain tribal students protesting in Mumbai, drive them out of city
Police on Tuesday detained tribal students who had marched from Nashik to press for better hostel facilities and an inquiry into deaths at ashram schools, bundling them into buses outside the Maharashtra Congress headquarters and driving them out of the city.
READ: https://t.co/nMiY0GayvP
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 6, 2026
Tribal students who walked and travelled by bus to Mumbai to demand scholarships, basic amenities and the tribal development minister’s resignation were threatened and detained by police at 3 am, the Congress alleged.
Watch: https://t.co/xxTCpLxNVA
— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) October 5, 2026
#Mumbai: Police on Tuesday detained tribal students who had marched from Nashik to press for better hostel facilities and an inquiry into deaths at ashram schools, bundling them into buses outside the Maharashtra #Congress headquarters and driving them out of the city.
https://t.co/VwFQsnEV02
— Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) October 6, 2026
According to Hindustan Times, police personnel deployed outside Tilak Bhavan stopped the students from leaving on Tuesday morning before private buses were brought in and the protesters were made to board them. The students continued raising slogans against the Maharashtra government as they were transported out of Mumbai. NSUI state president Sagar Salunke said the students were taken to different locations, including Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Nashik. The Indian Express also reported videos of the operation showing police personnel pushing protesters towards buses, including a woman carrying an infant.
The students had begun their September 28 march from Nashik to Mumbai, after weeks of agitation over conditions in tribal schools and hostels. Their demands include an independent inquiry into deaths at state-run ashram schools, compensation of ₹1 crore each to the families of three girls who died after alleged snakebite at an ashram school in Japtalai, Gadchiroli, ₹50 lakh compensation for those injured, an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the distribution of grants, action against responsible officials and the resignation of Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike. They have also raised concerns over scholarships, food, sanitation, hostel facilities and basic amenities.
The students had sought permission to protest at Azad Maidan. After that request was rejected, they sought to meet Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and submit a memorandum. Instead, they found themselves confined to the Congress office and subjected to police action for the second day in a row. On Monday, police had already forcefully moved students out of Tilak Bhavan and taken them towards Kopri in Thane after shifting them between vehicles and stopping at multiple locations. On Tuesday, the operation took place at the Congress headquarters itself.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal condemned the action, saying the government had denied Adivasi students even the basic democratic right to protest and meet the Governor. Congress leaders also alleged that police behaved abusively towards women students and used force to break up the protest. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had earlier described the Maharashtra government as “Adivasi-virodhi” over the police action.
The police, meanwhile, have denied that students were arrested from Tilak Bhavan. As reported by The Indian Express, police said those attempting to proceed towards Lok Bhavan were detained from different locations and that legal action was being taken. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also claimed that the students’ demands have been accepted, alleging that the continuing agitation was being driven by some NSUI office-bearers rather than the students themselves.
But the students themselves have rejected any suggestion that the issue is over. Before being driven out of Mumbai, they announced that they would return on October 25 and resume their protest at Azad Maidan.
The episode exposes the stark gap between the government’s claim that the students’ demands have been resolved and the reality of students having to march hundreds of kilometres to Mumbai, seek a hearing from the state’s highest authorities, and then face police action instead of an open response to their grievances. Their demands concern not abstract policy questions, but the safety, dignity and lives of Adivasi students in institutions run by the state.
The government may claim the demands have been accepted. The students’ continued resistance, and their determination to return, suggest otherwise.
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From Nashik to Mumbai: Adivasi students’ protest meets police detentions
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