Delhi Police Detain Hundreds Demanding India's Election Chief Resign

Police in India's capital, Delhi, detained hundreds of protesters on Sunday, 11 October, for a second consecutive day as sporadic protests broke out. The demonstrators are demanding that India's election chief quit. The unrest matters because it targets public confidence in the country's electoral leadership and shows the dispute has not faded.

On the same day, a court ordered the release of Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the "cockroach" movement, along with two other senior leaders of the group. The source does not say why they had been detained or whether any conditions are attached to their release.

What is known

The detentions came on a second straight day, and the protests appeared as scattered flare-ups rather than a single large rally. The exact number of people held is not given; the source says only that it was in the hundreds.

The court's decision to free the movement's leaders, alongside the continued detention of protesters on the streets, produces a mixed picture: the leaders are free while a number of their supporters remain in custody. The source does not say whether the release will calm or intensify the protests.