Bihar NEET Leak Protest Turned Patna Into Battleground For Six Hours, Protesters Cart Away Barricades; How Events Unfolded

Jagran Correspondent, Patna: After two days of protests and a march in Delhi, Bihar's capital Patna emerged as a new focal point of agitation over the NEET paper leak row. The march to Raj Bhavan, which began at Gandhi Maidan, remained the focus of a show of strength between the police and protesters, mostly from AISA, throughout the day.

The police found it difficult to control the situation as the crowd swelled suddenly. While police erected barricades to stop the protesters, the crowd picked them up and carried them away. After the barricades were removed, the protesters moved forward in unison, making it difficult for the police to stop them.

The protesters, taking different routes, eluded the police force for nearly six hours, turning the capital's Dak Bungalow Square, JP Golambar, CM House and Bailey Road underpass into battlegrounds.

Chain of events

At around 10:30 AM, the students broke through Gandhi Maidan's Gate No 12 and began their march to the Raj Bhavan. Police first tried to stop them by erecting barricades at the JP Golambar at 11 AM.

Despite the police resorting to lathi charge, water cannon and tear gas shells, the students did not retreat and broke the barricades and moved towards Dak Banglow intersection.

Thousands of protestors, including students, gathered at Dak Banglow Square and shouted slogans against the government for about an hour. They then broke through the security cordon and headed towards the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister's House.

To control the protesters who had gathered near the Chief Minister's residence and the Raj Bhavan, the police resorted to a lathi-charge and chased and beat the protestors. During this, several students lay down on the road in protest, and the police were seen dragging them into vehicles.

Several students were seriously injured in this police action. Despite this, the protestors' anger remained unabated, and they regrouped and gathered at Dak Bungalow Square.

MLAs' vehicles attacked, woman police officer attacked with a knife

As the protests escalated, heavy stone-pelting occurred in the Dak Bungalow and Bailey Road areas. Protesters vandalised the Patna Inspector General's escort vehicle, City Magistrate Sanjay Kumar's vehicle, and several police station vehicles.

In the attack, an attempt was made to overturn the car of Bhagalpur BJP MLA Rohit Pandey. He was injured in the assault. Furthermore, the windows of the vehicles of BJP MLA Vinay Bihari and party leader Ajay Singh were also broken.

More than 17 police officers, including Inspector General Jitendra Rana, SSP Kartikeya Sharma, SDM Kritika Mishra, Town DSP-2 Kamakhya Narayan Prasad, and the Gandhi Maidan police station chief, were seriously injured in the stone-pelting, while more than 20 others were injured. Furthermore, a rioter in the crowd attacked a female police officer with a knife, seriously injuring her.

37 injured admitted to hospitals, situation brought under control after 5 pm

Police officers admitted 37 students injured in the stone-pelting and lathi-charge to PMCH, IGIMS, LNJP, and Gardiner Road Hospital for treatment. At around 5 p.m., police resorted to a final lathi-charge and tear-gas shelling near Hartali Mor and Dak Bungalow, completely dispersing the crowd.

On the orders of Patna Inspector General Jitendra Rana, dozens of students were detained and sent to the police station in buses. A heavy police force was deployed at Dal Bungalow intersection as a precaution, and a tense situation prevailed.