India's top court ordered Wednesday that five prominent rights activists arrested for alleged Maoist links be kept under house arrest instead of police custody until it rules next week on a petition challenging their detention. Police, meanwhile, broke up a protest in southern India against the arrests and detained about two dozen people. The Supreme Court also ordered the federal and state governments to provide detailed reasons for their arrests by Sept. 5. The government says Maoist rebels, who are active in several states, are India's biggest internal security threat. Participants in the protest Wednesday in Hyderabad in southern India chanted slogans against the arrests, calling them a violation of fundamental rights.

Source: ABC News August 29, 2018 07:38 UTC