MEERUT, Sept. 22 -- Tension prevailed in Dadri village under Daurala police station limits of Meerut on Sunday after police allegedly used force to stop a Gurjar Mahapanchayat and detained several leaders, including Rashtriya Gurjar Samaj Sangharsh Samiti's national president Ravindra Bhati Gurjar. The Mahapanchayat, convened at Mandaura in Dadri, had drawn leaders and members from Meerut, Saharanpur, Noida, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Ghaziabad and other districts of western Uttar Pradesh to discuss issues such as Gurjar rights and political representation. However, police intervened soon after the gathering began, stopping leaders from reaching the venue and taking them into custody. Eyewitnesses alleged that police used batons to disperse the crowd, which led to stone-pelting in retaliation. Several leaders, including Ravindra Bhati and Abhinav Motla, were arrested and taken to the police lines. Community leader Subhash Bhati alleged that the crackdown was politically motivated. "An opposition party spread the rumour that Gurjars cannot even write their names outside their own villages. I request chief minister Yogi Adityanath to not allow casteism to be spread. Thakurs and Gurjars are one, but the police and administration are encouraging division. They forcibly picked up our companions and took them away," he said. He added: "I may support the BJP, but my community comes first. We had gathered to talk about our rights, but the police acted in a high-handed manner." Refuting reports of stone-pelting, SP (city) Ayush Vikram Singh said, "We received information that some youths had gathered to disrupt law and order in the Daurala area. Police intervened to maintain peace and dispersed the crowd. Some individuals who were planning to take out a rally, including people from other districts, were detained." The confrontation comes against the backdrop of a recent row in Kapsad village, where the Thakur community installed a board inscribed with "Rajput Samrat Mihir Bhoj". Gurjars opposed the move, demanding recognition of Mihir Bhoj as their ancestor. Despite their protests, authorities did not remove the board, after which the community called the Mahapanchayat....