Meerut, Sept. 5 -- Dalit leader and Yuva Shakti Dal national president Ravi Gautam was detained in a pre-dawn police operation on Friday while he was sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Commissioner Park in Meerut, demanding action against former Meerut SSP Avinash Pandey. The police and district administration officials reached the protest site with a heavy force around 3.30am and removed Gautam and his supporters from the park. The sudden operation led to a heated confrontation between police personnel and Gautam's supporters before the protest site was cleared. The police and administration had kept the operation under wraps and Gautam and his associates were reportedly unaware of the impending action until around 2.30am. Police initially tried to persuade Gautam to end the protest and leave the park. However, when he refused, a confrontation ensued between the two sides. After detaining Gautam, police took him in a police vehicle to Santosh hospital in Ghaziabad, where he was admitted. Following his removal, police personnel dismantled the tent erected at the protest site and sent it to the Civil Lines police station. By morning, Commissioner Park had been completely cleared and a heavy police deployment was put in place to prevent protesters from returning and setting up the tent again. The protest stems from a July 8 demonstration linked to the killing of Dalit student Lalita Gautam. Lalita Gautam was a 20-year-old Dalit BA student from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. On May 15, 2026, she left home to appear for her final-year examination but went missing. Two days later, her bruised body was recovered from a sugarcane field in the Rohta area. The police arrested her alleged boyfriend, Ankush, and later his brother, for murder and destroying evidence. However, her family and Dalit activists alleged a larger conspiracy. This incident triggered widespread outrage, massive caste-based protests, and political uproar, with demonstrators demanding an impartial, time-bound investigation and stricter action against all involved. Ravi Gautam and his supporters had alleged that then-Meerut SSP Avinash Pandey slapped Ravi sGautam inside a police van and assaulted him during the protest. A video purportedly showing the incident had subsequently circulated widely on social media. Gautam was later released from jail on bail and began an indefinite sit-in at Commissioner Park on August 20, demanding action against Pandey and other measures related to the July 8 incident. When he did not see what he considered concrete action on his demands, Gautam escalated the protest into an indefinite hunger strike on September 3, giving up food and water. His supporters have maintained that merely transferring the then-SSP was insufficient and have demanded further action. Deputy superintendent of police Vishwa Jyoti Rai said, "A medical team examined Gautam who was on hunger strike. It was found that health condition had significantly deteriorated. Following set protocol to save his life, he was shifted to hospital"....