Indus Valley Times

BIHAR,JAN 6 : Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, sitting on a fast unto death to press the demand for cancellation of a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam, was arrested by the Patna Police on Monday.

According to sources, Kishor was “forcibly removed” from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and taken to AIIMS in an ambulance by the police.

Talking to news agency PTI, Patna District Magistrate (DM), Chandrashekhar Singh, said, “Yes, Kishor and his supporters, sitting on dharna at Gandhi Maidan, were arrested by the police on Monday morning. They will now be produced before a court.”

A video shared by the news agency PTI showed senior officials of Patna Police removing Kishor from the hunger strike site amid fierce opposition and ‘Vande Mataram’ slogans by his supporters.

Earlier, an FIR was filed against Kishor and his “150 supporters” by the district administration, which asserted that the protest at the site was “illegal”.

According to Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, in accordance with a Patna High Court order, “no dharna can be allowed at a spot other than the designated place in Gardani Bagh”.

Reacting to Kishor’s arrest, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar alleged that the Jan Suraaj Party founder ignored the rules by sitting in Gandhi Maidan against the High Court order.

“Students understood Prashant Kishor who was carrying blankets and had a vanity van. The administration took action against him as per the rules,” he said.

The Jan Suraaj founder has been fast unto death since January 2, to press for the demand for cancellation of the integrated 70th combined (preliminary) competitive test conducted by the BPSC on December 13.

However, BPSC had ordered the retest for a select group of candidates who had appeared in the December 13 exam, which was embroiled over allegations of question paper leak. The retest was held on January 4 at 22 centres in Patna.

Out of a total of 12,012 candidates, around 8,111 aspirants had downloaded their admit cards. However, 5,943 students appeared for the retest.

The retest was held peacefully at all centres without reports of any misconduct and malpractices, the BPSC said in a statement issued on January 4.

Kishor said the Jan Suraaj Party would file a plea seeking the cancellation of the BPSC exam on Tuesday.

“It is not a matter of decision for us whether we will continue this (protest) or not. We will continue doing what we are doing now. There will be no change in it. We (Jan Suraaj Party) will file a petition in the High Court on January 7 (Tuesday),” Kishor said.

Later, the Patna Police conducted a check of vehicles leaving from the Gandhi Maidan after Kishor was taken away from the site.

-PTI