Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor, who had been on a hunger strike at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan demanding the cancellation of a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam, was arrested early Monday, Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh has stated.
Kishor, who began his fast on January 2 in support of civil service aspirants, was removed from the protest site along with his supporters and taken to Patna AIIMS for a medical examination before being formally arrested.
Patna District Magistrate Singh, speaking to PTI, confirmed the arrest of Kishor and his supporters, stating, "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."
He also deemed the dharna "illegal" as it was held in a restricted area near the Mahatma Gandhi statue. A case had already been registered against Kishor for organising the protest at the site.
"Their dharna was 'illegal' as they were holding the sit-in near the restricted site," stated Singh.
Following Kishor's arrest, BPSC aspirants staged a dharna at Gardanibagh in Patna, demanding his immediate release.
Raj Kumar, one of the protestors, expressed grievances in an interaction with reporters on Monday morning, saying, "Our protest was continuing in a democratic way near the Gandhi statue in Gandhi Maidan. Traffic was not affected by the protest. The police forcefully picked up Prashant Kishor, and we have heard that the police have also beaten up some students as well as Prashant Kishor. We will continue our protest. We are not going to stop".
Kishor's protest stemmed from allegations of a question paper leak during the BPSC examination conducted on December 13, 2024. While the BPSC acknowledged the issue and ordered a retest for select candidates, Kishor and his supporters demanded a complete cancellation of the exam.
The retest was held peacefully on January 4 at 22 centers in Patna, with 5,943 candidates out of 12,012 appearing for the examination. No reports of misconduct or malpractice were noted, according to a BPSC statement.
Following his arrest, Kishor and his supporters are expected to be produced in court later today.
(With inputs from agencies)
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