India, July 21 -- Tens of thousands of protesters swarmed central Delhi on Monday morning as part of a planned but unauthorised march to Parliament that quickly descended into pandemonium as the police struck agitators with batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse huge crowds that climbed over barricades and brought large chunks of the Capital to a halt.

Despite police barricades on 10 arterial roads, five key metro stations shut since 9am and mobile internet suspended between 10.30am and 6pm, activists, students, young professionals and housewives poured into Jantar Mantar since daybreak. By afternoon, protesters and the police were fighting pitched battles on bylanes and roundabouts, as Connaught Place, Patel Chowk, Raisina Road, o...