Police Lathi Charge Students Protesting Bihar Public Service Exam Chaos

Police in Patna lathi-charged a group of student protestors late Wednesday evening as they tried to occupy the offices of the Bihar Public Service Commission.

A six-minute video shared by news agency ANI showed hundreds of young men and women, many chanting slogans and holding placards, flood streets and traffic junctions, and push past helpless cops.

The police, however regrouped and came back in large numbers of their own. In the video shared by ANI the police finally manage to contain the protesters, an operation that took hours.

#WATCH | Patna | Aspirants hold protest against the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) demanding re-exam of 70th BPSC Examination. pic.twitter.com/AqZuapo38g

Leading up to that containment, however, was a lathi-charge by the cops as the writhing, stormy sea of protestors neared the BPSC office. The visuals soon turned disturbing, with some showing the cops chasing and beating students, many of whom were injured into submission.

One BPSC aspirant, in a grey sweater, told ANI, "We just wanted to peacefully put forth our demands (to the government body) ... but the police started the lathi-charge..."

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar | An aspirant says, "We just wanted to peacefully put our demands (in front of BPSC), but the police started lathi-charge on us. We have been protesting for the last 8 days..." https://t.co/IOJIChxGyU pic.twitter.com/ICZdg3timw

"We have been protesting for the past eight days," he said.

The protests are over the Integrated 70th Combined Competitive Examination (Prelims), which were held on Friday and then cancelled after allegations of mismanagement and irregularities.

READ | BPSC Exam Conducted At Patna Centre Cancelled Amid Reports Of Irregularities

"The BPSC has decided to cancel the exam conducted at Bapu Pariksha Parisar... it will soon release the (new) exam schedule..." Parmar Ravi Manubhai, the Chairperson, said Monday.

The revised date was later announced as January 4. BPSC officials said the exam had been re-scheduled as quickly as possible in the interests of affected students, many of whom would have had to spend time and money re-preparing for and travelling to the exam centres.

The BPSC also noted the examination had been held, on December 13, with no concerns at over 900 centres across the state. Only Patna's Bapu Pariksha Bhavan reported a problem.

READ | On CCTV, Chaos In Bihar Exam, Candidates Run With, Tear Papers

CCTV footage from the exam centre showed a crowd tearing question papers in the storage area and snatching them from candidates. In one clip, a group is seen rushing into a room where exam officials were addressing grievances over a 45 minute delay in distributing papers.

Despite assurances the lost time would be compensated, the situation spun out of control.

According to a police complaint filed by exam authorities, candidates became agitated upon realising some sealed question paper boxes were already opened. The complaint further alleged some spread rumours the exam was cancelled, prompting others to gather at the venue.

Eventually, 5,674 candidates completed the exam in a controlled environment.

Today's protest also drew sharp barbs from opposition parties and leaders in the state. Lok Sabha MP Pappu Yadav demanded to know why the ruling JDU-BJP alliance 'hated' students.

"Why are they treated like terrorists? Such attacks with sticks on those who demand justice for themselves! This is intolerable... we will sit on dharna tonight with the resolve to completely destroy such a government!" he declared.

With input from agencies

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