Violence against Agnipath scheme subsides in Bihar; over 800 arrested so far

Patna: Violent protests against Agnipath scheme for defence recruitment appeared to be on the wane in Bihar on Sunday as a police crackdown on troublemakers continued and train services remained hit in view of security concerns.

According to a statement issued by Police Headquarters, altogether 804 people have been arrested so far in connection with the large scale violence and arson, which had the state in its throes last week.

The number of FIRs registered in connection with the protests stood at 145 and tracing of persons suspected of instigating or indulging in anti-social activities contimnued.

Internet services remain suspended in 17 out of 38 districts in the state and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces continued in places, the PHQ release said.

In the afternoon, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar summoned Chief Secretary Amir Subhani and DGP S K Singhal to his residence to seek updates on the situation, highly placed sources said.

Movement of long-distance trains through the East Central Railway zone, which covers most of the state, remained suspended from 0400 hours, as a “precautionary measure” and it will resume at 8 P.M.

While this has resulted in cancellation of a number of trains, ECR Chief Public Relations Officer Virendra Kumar said eight special trains were being run from Deen Dayal Upadhyay station in Uttar Pradesh and Dhanbad in Jharkhand for the convenience of stranded passengers.

Besides, Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told PTI “we have made full arrangements to ensure no problems are faced by children going to schools which reopen on Monday after the summer vacations”.

He also said “some private schools have decided to delay reopening on their own. They may reopen whenever they deem it fit but the administration will be all geared up from Monday”.

Meanwhile, the perennially high political temperatures of the state have soared further as the widespread unrest has provided the opposition with fresh ammunition while handling of the violence has left the Chief Minister's JD(U) and ally BJP at each other's throat.

Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who addressed a press conference on the aftermath of Agnipath in Delhi, later announced on Twitter that all MLAs of the Grand Alliance, which his RJD helms, will on June 22 stage a march to the Raj Bhavan here.

“To press the demand for withdrawal of Agnipath, all respected MLAs of the Grand Alliance shall stage a march from the Vidhan Sabha to the Raj Bhavan on June 22, 9 A.M.”, tweeted Yadav, whose allies include CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M).

The JD(U) continued to fulminate against Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, who had on Saturday held a press conference alleging complicity of the administration in the attack on his residence besides offices of the party at a number of places and property of other saffron party leaders.

JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar waved a copy of the FIR lodged by Jaiswal in Bettiah, the latter's home town, and asked “what happened to his claim of having identified at least 100 people who had vandalized his house? Why has he not mentioned a single person by name?”.

He said the state government was fully sensitive to security concerns of all people, a reason why intelligence reports sent from here resulted in “Y” category security for at least 10 BJP leaders, including Jaiswal and Deputy CM Renu Devi.

“But BJP needs to come clean. It is in the government but attacking the administration pretending as if it is in the opposition. It will have to explain this stance to the people”, the JD(U) spokesman said.

He also maintained that the large scale violence was a “spontaneous” outburst triggered by anxieties of unemployed youth over the proposed short-term contractual employment which promises no pensionary benefits to those retiring after four years of service.

“But the BJP leaders have been behaving as if it is a simple law and order problem which can be dealt with an iron hand. If that is so, why were there protests in states ruled by it like Madhya Pradesh and Haryana and even Uttar Pradesh where the much-touted bulldozer model could not protect a police station in Aligarh from arsonists”.

BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand replied peevishly “decorum must not be given up in political discourse. Our state president expressed some views by way of suggestions for improving law and order. We are aware of our responsibilities as a partner in the ruling coalition”.