India, Oct. 24 -- Responding to a knock on her door at 10:15 am on Thursday, Bandra-based Natasha Pareira was shocked to face three police personnel - two men and a woman - dressed in plain clothes at her doorstep. Claiming to be from Bandra police station's Intelligence Unit, they promptly proceeded to verify her name and asked whether she was going to attend a protest to be held at Mumbai University's Kalina campus at 1 pm on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid allegations of mishandling the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The protest was called by the Disha Students' Organisation, an independent youth movement. "Apart from the three cops, one police van was parked ben...