This expanded article provides more details about the detention of protesters in Mumbai, Pune, and Goa who were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the conduct of a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In addition to the previously reported incidents in Mumbai, protesters at Dadar station who were detained by police were taken to Shivajinagar Police Station. Later in the evening, people gathered outside the station, shouting slogans and demanding the release of the detainees.
In Pune, about 80 to 100 protesters, including members of Left groups, were detained during a demonstration at Good Luck Chowk. The protesters were later released by night.
In Goa, protesters who climbed over the low wall around Azad Maidan were also detained by the police. The main gates of Azad Maidan were locked and a police battalion was deployed around the venue to prevent protesters from entering.
On Saturday, about 600 protesters were detained in Mumbai during demonstrations held in solidarity with the agitation in Delhi. Among those detained were Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and actor Imran Khan. The detainees were released later that night.
The trigger for this round of protests was a September 23 investigation by The Indian Express which revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected 14 times in 10 months to decisions by the poll panel related to the special intensive revision, saying some had been taken without their knowledge.
Source:
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