NAGPUR, Aug 15: Police on Friday detained more than 780 activists of the Republican Party of India (RPI), including 276 women in Wardha when they staged a demonstration demanding the dismissal of Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government in Maharashtra.

They were however, released laterAccording to police control, the RPI activists were demanding the dismissal of the government in protest against the police firing in Mumbai last month in which ten Dalits were killed following the desecration of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue.

In the city, 70 RPI activists led by Umakant Ramteke, staged a similar demonstration at Ravi Bhawan.

However, after shouting slogans against the State Government and Nagpur's District Guardian Minister Nitin Gadkari, they dispersed peacefully.

Meanwhile in Andhra Pradesh, a section of Dalits observed the golden jubilee of Independence as a ``protest day'' by hoisting black flags in some parts of the state.

Protesting against the `indiscriminate' police lathi charge on MLA Mala Mahanadu, in the city on August 11, and brutal police firing on Dalits in Maharashtra, the State level Dalit organisation hoisted black flags at Dr Ambedkar's statue at the Tank Bund in the state capital.

Black flags were hoisted in other parts of the state and many Dalit localities in Hyderabad, Dalit Solidarity Action Committee president K Nagaiah said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.