Srinagar: Noted economist and activist Jean Dreze and two others were on Thursday detained in Bishunpura, Jharkhand, by police for organising a meeting on Right to Food, reports said.

Dreze was part of the National Advisory Council, at the time of the Congress-led UPA. He was detained in Garhwa, in Jharkhand.

The Belgian-born development economist, in a WhatsApp message to a friend, said: “We want permission to hold the meeting today itself. Even evening. A big meeting was held in same village last night without permission.”

Police told them to hold the meeting another day. They were detained for holding the meeting without permission.