New Delhi: A Bihar Superintendent of Police (SP) was removed from his post after controversy erupted over a police constable’s use of an AK-47 during the student protests on July 25.
Siwan SP Puran Kumar Jha has now been placed under vetting for a new posting. While the police constable who fired the rifle was suspended, officers in charge at the time in Siwan have not been given fresh postings.
The Bihar government told the Supreme Court that the constable fired four rounds from the rifle because he was “trapped” and surrounded by protestors.
The government said that the officers fired the shots into the air, and nobody was injured.
The state government’s response before the Supreme Court stems from petitions accusing the police personnel of using excessive force during protests linked to the Jantar Mantar NEET protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The AK-47 incident took place on July 25 near JP Chowk in Siwan, Bihar.
Constable was trapped, says Bihar govt
The government told the apex court that Abhishek Kumar, the constable who was allegedly surrounded by protestors, “got trapped in the crowd” and fired four rounds from his rifle “in the air”. He was attempting to deal with the situation, the state said.
Reiterating that no protestor got injured from the particular firing, the Bihar government said it does, however, acknowledge that three protesters sustained firearm injuries from the police action during the protests.
It strongly argued that those injured were unrelated to the AK-47 incident. The affidavit claimed that the three injured protestors were not in the area where Kumar fired the four rounds from his rifle. Thus, the state held that the injuries could not have been a result of that firing.
State addresses another firing incident during protests
The affidavit also mentioned another firing incident during the protest. Assistant Sub-Inspector Nilesh Kumar Singh had reportedly fired two shots from his 9mm pistol to clear the crowd near Hathi Chowk.
The Supreme Court was informed that the police exercised restraint and did not deploy disproportionate force against demonstrators.
The Bihar firing had triggered major controversy with the CJP, among many others, condemning the use of an AK-47 against student protestors.
Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, had asked how an officer deployed at a protest site obtained such a rifle. He questioned who approved the issuing of the firearm and whether the full chain of command responsible for assigning a modern weapon like an AK-47 needed examination.
Follow on Twitter | Edited by Khadija Irfan Rahim | | 
