NEET leak row: Patna protest turns violent as students seek Union Minister’s ouster

Patna: Bihar on Wednesday witnessed a pitched battle between hundreds of student activists demanding Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and the police, which used tear gas shells, water cannons and batons in a bid to prevent their Lok Bhavan march’.

The police stopped the protestors close to the Lok Bhavan, but before that, the activists hurled stones at the BJP office. The authorities also sealed the assembly premises when the demonstrators reached near the building.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya K Sharma, more than 20 personnel were injured in day-long operations and “more than 15 FIRs” were being lodged.

As the swarm of protesters, most of them owing allegiance to AISA, the student wing of CPI(ML) Liberation, entered the restricted zone and moved dangerously close to vital installations, the administration went into a tizzy and ordered sealing of the assembly premises, situated a few hundred metres away.

The incident left members of both Houses of the legislature, who were attending the Monsoon session, locked inside for a couple of hours after the day’s proceedings were over.

Trouble had been brewing since around 11 am soon after a large number of student activists, who were expressing their solidarity with the Cockroach Janta Party’s stir in the national capital, gathered at Gandhi Maidan.

“We seek the resignation of Pradhan for his failure to prevent NEET exam paper leaks. We also demand the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on whose orders the Delhi Police brutally tried to repress the Jantar Mantar agitation earlier this week,” alleged Paliganj MLA Sandeep Saurav, who is also a former general secretary of AISA and the JNU Students’ Union.

A massive traffic jam was seen at Dak Bungalow crossing, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the state capital, where the police had put up barricades to thwart the onward march, and fired tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathi charge when the students refused to withdraw.

Stone-pelting was also witnessed from the side of the procession, and some of the journalists covering the episode were reportedly beaten up by the demonstrators.

Upon reaching the Income Tax roundabout, which is about a hundred metres from the Patna High Court premises, a handful of agitators made a small detour and went to the state BJP headquarters on Birchand Patel Marg, where they hurled stones, damaging some vehicles.

The police tried to crack down on the student activists close to the secretariat, where they were seen moving towards the restricted zone in batches of four to five.

“We are all marching peacefully, but the police are indiscriminately roughing up boys and girls only because they are being seen in groups of four to five. This shows the anti-democratic character of the BJP, which rules the Centre as well as the state,” claimed Saurav.

The agitators were finally stopped a couple of hundred metres away from the Lok Bhawan, which is situated right across the street from the chief minister’s residence.

The police operation in the VVIP area was overseen by IG, Patna Zone, Jitendra Rana, who arrived at the spot even as stones hurled by the students damaged window panes of an escort vehicle.

A large contingent of central paramilitary forces had also been called into service to restore order in the area.

The protesters were bundled into vehicles and taken to a police station for further action.

An official word on how many of them were taken into custody and the charges on which they were booked was awaited.

Several police personnel were also seen bleeding profusely after the clashes with students.

“At least 22 police personnel have received injuries. Some of them have been discharged after first aid. Those with major injuries are still undergoing treatment at hospitals. Cases are being lodged. We expect the total number of FIRs to be in excess of 15. The number of students detained or arrested by us will be known in due course,” the SSP told PTI.

Inside the assembly premises, members, particularly those of the ruling NDA, were taken aback by the magnitude of the protests in the city, which caused them to remain locked inside the compound for about an hour after the day’s proceedings had come to a close.

This is a conspiracy to unleash anarchy in Bihar and elsewhere in the country by the opposition, which is frustrated at the undiminished popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleged former BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachol, who had come to watch the proceedings of the monsoon session.

Earlier, soon after the post-lunch session, the state legislative council witnessed a walkout by the opposition, following a heated exchange that took place after RJD MLC Sunil Kumar Singh made a statement on the police action against students.