Jan Suraj Party founder Prashant Kishore, who was on a fast unto death at Gandhi Maidan in Patna demanding cancellation of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination, was arrested on Monday morning. Police gave this information.
Police personnel removed Kishore and his supporters from the protest site, a senior official said. He said the protest was being held near a restricted area and thus their demonstration was “illegal”.
Kishor had started a fast unto death on January 2 in protest against the alleged leaking of question papers of the examination conducted by BPSP on December 13 and was arrested on the fifth day of the fast.
According to Jan Suraj Party supporters, the police took Kishore to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Patna for his medical examination. He also alleged that while taking the teenager into custody, the security personnel manhandled and pushed him.
Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told PTI, “Yes, the teenagers and their supporters who were sitting on strike at Gandhi Maidan were arrested by the police on Monday morning. They will now be produced in court.” He said their protest was ”illegal” as they were protesting near a restricted site.
“Despite repeated requests by the concerned authorities, they did not move from there,” the District Magistrate said. The district administration had also issued a notice to them to shift the protest to Gardanibagh area of the state capital, which is the designated venue for the protest.
On the allegations of scuffle, the District Magistrate said, “The security personnel did not scuffle with the teenager.” The police only removed those supporters who were trying to prevent his arrest.
Later, the District Magistrate told reporters that during this period, 43 supporters of Kishore were detained and 15 vehicles including three tractors were seized.
Singh claimed, “Out of the 43 detained people, 30 have been identified.” It has been found that not a single person among them is a student or a BPSC candidate.
He clarified, “Some of the detained people claimed to be students, which is being investigated. Additionally, among those detained, only five are from Patna, while four are from outside Bihar.
Singh stressed that the matter is now before the Supreme Court and said, “Those who have complaints related to the examination can present their views before the Supreme Court.”
Recently a petition was filed in the Supreme Court requesting to cancel the BPSC preliminary exam and take action against the officials who used force against the candidates during the protests.
Another official said that Patna Police has registered a case against the teenager for fasting unto death at the restricted site of Gandhi Maidan. Soon after his arrest, the teenager was taken to the local AIIMS for medical examination.
“Initially he refused to let the authorities get his medical examination done at AIIMS,” the officer said. “He finally agreed and was examined at a medical facility near Fatuha.”
The district administration issued a statement claiming that “Kishor is absolutely fine.” While Kishor was being taken out of AIIMS in an ambulance, his supporters tried to block the road outside the hospital.
“The teenager’s supporters who had gathered outside AIIMS were trying to disrupt traffic and mild force was used to disperse them,” a senior police officer said.
The candidates are demanding cancellation of the examination conducted by BPSP on December 13. Kishore had started a fast unto death on January 2 in support of the candidates.
However, BPSC had ordered a group of students who had appeared in the December 13 exam to re-exam. Re-examination was conducted at 22 centers here on Saturday.
Re-examination was held at 22 centers in Patna. Out of total 12,012 candidates, 8,111 had downloaded their admit cards. However, only 5,943 students appeared in the re-examination on Saturday. BPSC said in a statement issued on Saturday that the re-examination was conducted peacefully at all the centers and there was no report of any irregularities.
