Patna: Protesting students broke through police barricades in their bid to gherao the Bihar Chief Minister’s residence in Patna, even as the law enforcers used water cannons to disperse the agitators.
A large number of BPSC (Bihar Public Service Commission) TRE-4 aspirants, along with other students, began their pre-announced march from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and reached Dak Bungalow crossing, where police detained several individuals.
The students, many of whom were carrying the tricolour in their hands, jostled with the police and broke through barricades at the Dak Bungalow crossing. Police deployed lathicharge at several points during the march and used water cannons to disperse the protesters. However, the students continued their protest march in a bid to get closer to the CM’s residence.
While the protest was ongoing, a farmers’ group demonstrating over land-related problems joined the student protest, carrying black flags. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was soon deployed at the protest site to control the crowd.
They have been protesting at Patna’s Gardanibagh area for weeks, with their main demands including a single-tier examination in BPSC-TRE 4, transparency in the recruitment process, recruitment exams by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), and fair opportunities for Hindi-medium candidates. Citing irregularities in the 70th BPSC exams, the protesting students demanded that the exam be cancelled.
