In India, police detained more than 200 participants in protests in New Delhi, as well as Abhijit Dipke, the leader of the youth movement "Tarakans". The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the head of the Election Commission over allegations of manipulating voter rolls in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, LRT reports, writes UNN.
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According to the youth organization CJP, Dipke and two other movement leaders were detained immediately after the plane arrived in the capital, before they had even managed to leave the aircraft. The activists had planned to join a large-scale demonstration against alleged violations of the electoral process.
To contain the protests, the authorities deployed thousands of police officers, closed dozens of metro stations, and restricted mobile internet access near the protest sites. Some trains to Delhi were also canceled, while certain businesses temporarily suspended operations.
Opposition accuses authorities of suppressing protests
On Saturday, local television channels showed footage of law enforcement officers pursuing demonstrators and detaining them in central New Delhi. Representatives of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party sharply criticized the authorities' actions, calling the detention of activists a sign of growing authoritarianism.
It is official... we are living under a full dictatorship under Modi
The protests were sparked by allegations of violations during a large-scale revision of the voter rolls. An investigation by The Indian Express uncovered discrepancies that resulted in millions of names being removed from the rolls. India's Election Commission rejected the allegations of wrongdoing.
The protest movement has been gaining momentum for several weeks. Earlier, hundreds of people took to the streets in New Delhi and Mumbai, demanding transparency in the electoral process and accountability from the leadership of the Election Commission.