Police on Thursday denied permission to a summit scheduled to be addressed by dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and JNU student leader Umar Khalid and detained students gathered outside a hall in Mumbai for the event.
A police official said the number of students and activists detained outside the Bhaidas Hall in suburban Vile Parle was not yet available.
Those detained included Datta Daghe, the president of Chhatra Bharati, the organiser of the event, other organisers, MLC Kapil Patil, Allahabad University student leader Richa Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Pradip Narwal.
A detained student leader dubbed the police action as "dictatorship" and said they will take their fight to Parliament.
The action came after police denied permission for the 'All India Students Summit 2018', which was scheduled to be held on Thursday, in which Mevani, the newly elected MLA from Gujarat, and Khalid were invited.
The police denied permission in the wake of protests and bandh in the state on Wednesday following violence on the anniversary of a battle fought 200 years ago at Bhima Koregaon in Pune, a senior police official said.
Daghe earlier said the police had not given permission for the programme.
He said there was a huge police presence at the hall and the students were not being allowed to go inside.
All those detained were taken to the Juhu police station.
Before being detained, Richa Singh told reporters outside the Bhaidas Hall that the police action against the event was "dictatorship" and that it was "an Emergency-like situation".
"We will take this fight to Parliament," she said.
Police have barricaded the Bhaidas auditorium and heavy security has been deployed around the premises.
In a related development, the Pune Police registered an FIR against Mevani and Khalid for their alleged "provocative" speeches at an event in Pune on December 31.
Mevani and Khalid had attended the "Elgar Parishad", an event organised to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, at Shaniwar Wada in Pune.
Violence erupted in Pune district when dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa's Army.
