Student protesters in Bihar clashed with police on Tuesday after breaching barricades during a march towards the residences of the governor and Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary in Patna. The protesters are demanding a unified examination system for teacher recruitment in the state. The situation escalated as demonstrators attempted to advance past police lines, leading to confrontations with law enforcement.
Meanwhile, hundreds of nursing students who have been protesting outside Bihar Health Sciences University (BHSU) in Patna against alleged irregularities in the examination results clashed with police on Tuesday, leaving several students and two policemen injured. The protesting students — mostly aspirants for Teachers’ Recruitment Exams to be conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) next month — under the banner of leftist Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) planned to picket Choudhary’s residence after marching from iconic Gandhi Maidan. Several protesters were detained when the marchers reached Dak Bungalow crossing. Tight security arrangements were in place from Gandhi Maidan to the CM’s residence, with the authorities deploying anti-riot Rapid Action Force and CRPF along with the state police in central Patna ahead of the march. Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters at JP Golambar at Gandhi Maidan. Deputy superintendent of police Kamakhya Narayan Singh was among the policemen injured. Four protestors were detained on the charges of ransack and attack on police team. Protesters alleged that police used baton charge when they arrived university campus with their demands over suspected irregularities in the results.
Police said they used force when protesters broke barricades and allegedly threw stones.
