An Indian-American man has been arrested for taking part in a rally in Edison to demand suspension of a police officer who he claimed had assaulted him at a fireworks display to mark American Independence Day.
Rajnikant Parikh, 30, was among the 75 protestors in front of the Township Hall in Edison on Wednesday, when he was taken away by the police.
As Parikh was speaking at the demonstration, two agents of the US immigration department took him for questioning, apparently to establish his legal status in the country.
He is reportedly still in federal custody. Officials of the immigration department said there was a deportation order against Parikh since 2005.
The rally was in response to the July 4 arrest of Parikh by police officer Michael Dotro at an apartment complex in Edison where more than 800 people had gathered for an unscheduled fireworks celebration.
Parikh had alleged that police had attacked him without provocation and buttressed his allegation pointing to his bruised face.
He was later arrested and charged with assault on Dotro on July 4 during the fireworks display. The Indian-American community has since called for the suspension of Dotro, who has, however, been cleared of abuse allegations.
Indian immigrants in Edison have angrily rejected the conclusion of the internal police investigation clearing Dotro of allegations of assault with their leaders describing it as "mere whitewash."
Mayor Jun Choi, who released the findings of the inquiry on Friday, said the protesters represented only a fringe of the community and most the Indian immigrants are living peacefully with members of other communities.
At Wednesday's two-hour rally, Pradip Kothari, president of the Indo-American Cultural Society in New Jersey led the demonstration and handed over a letter, signed by members of the community, to township police Capt Robert Ellmyer.
In an earlier incident in August 2005, two volunteers of the Indian community were arrested for hanging flags on utility poles on the Oak Tree road as police said they did not have the permission to do so.
In recent years, a large number of Indians and Asians have settled in Edison and they now constitute more than 30 per cent of the population.
A large number of Indian businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores have been set up on the Oak Tree road passing through the township.
The road is known as Little India.
But the Indians said they had been threatened by the police officers with one of them pulling out the gun.
Police officers said they had to arrest them as the two had became rowdy.
An investigation by the atttorney general's office cleared the three police officers against whom the allegations were made and charges against the two Indians were dismissed though they were fined for putting up flags without permission.
