PATNA: The agitating students and police fought a pitched battle in the Bhikhna Pahadi area of Patna on Tuesday evening as the job aspirants continued their protests for the second consecutive day in different parts of the state over alleged erroneous results of the Railway Recruitment Board’s Non-Technical Popular Categories Exam.
Police had to fire tear gas shells and use water cannon on the agitators, who pelted stones on the cops. At several locations in Nalanda, Nawada, Buxar, Ara, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Motihari, the agitation became violent, resulting in the cancellation or diversion of several trains.
The RRB-NTPC exams were held in seven phases between December 28, 2020 and July 31, 2021 to fill thousands of vacancies.
The Ministry of Railways has warned the agitating students against indulging in vandalism and damaging railway properties. “Videos of such activities will be examined with the help of specialized agencies and candidates/aspirants found indulged in unlawful activities will be liable for police action as well as lifetime debarment from obtaining a railway job,” the Tuesday notice stated and advised the job aspirants/candidates not to be misguided or come under the influence of such elements who are trying to use them for fulfilling their own selfish ends.
According to sources, the railways cancelled the Gaya-Jamalpur Special (03616) and Gaya-Howrah Express (13024) and rerouted several trains originating from or passing through the stations under the jurisdiction of the East Central Railway (ECR). “The Durg-Rajendra Nagar Terminal South Bihar Express (13287) will be cancelled on Wednesday,” the ECR’s chief public relations officer said.
In Nawada, the agitators turned violent and set fire to a railway track maintenance engine. While fire tenders rushed to the scene and attempted to extinguish the blaze, police officers and unruly students engaged in a pitched battle, throwing stones at one another. An official claimed that the violent mob damaged railway equipment worth crores of rupees.
Job seekers also blocked the Mehsaul railway crossing in Sitamarhi town. A police team, led by SDPO Ramakant Upadyaya, attempted to clear the blockade, which resulted in stone pelting and commotion. Protesters also caused havoc at the Sitamarhi Junction. Anunay Kashyap, a photographer, and a few constables were injured. A few youths and protesters were also detained by the Sitamarhi GRP.
Hundreds of railway job seekers squatted on railway tracks near the Biharsharif Junction for approximately two hours and pelted stones onto the railway track, prompting police to resort to a mild lathicharge to clear the tracks. The Rajgir-New Delhi Express and New Delhi-Rajgir Express were stranded at the outer signals for approximately an hour and a half.
Refuting reports of protesters pelting stones and police using force to clear the tracks, Biharsharif assistant sub-divisional magistrate Mukul Pankaj Mani said, “The agitators squatted peacefully on the railway tracks, but vacated the place on assurance that their demands would be forwarded to the authorities concerned.”
In Motihari, around 200 enraged students blocked the tracks near the Bapudham Motihari railway station, halting the Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj Express for an hour. Rakesh Tripathi, station superintendent, said the protest disrupted train services for one hour on the Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj section. Motihari SDM Suman Saurabh, along with the SDPO and police force, arrived at the protest site at 5.15pm and pursued the protesters to vacate the tracks.
(With inputs from Kumod Verma in Patna, S B Sinha in Nawada, S K Singh in Sitamarhi, Farrukh Nadim in Biharsharif and C B Pandey in Motihari)