Hours after clashes erupted between police and JPSC-JSSC protesters in Jharkhand capital Ranchi, police filed three FIRs against 14 named and 200 unnamed persons on Saturday, August 22, making the state’s Opposition BJP leaders and workers angrier.
The detention of Amisha Prasad, who runs an NGO, by police at Kotwali police station in Ranchi for her alleged instigation of participants in Friday’s agitation led to a galaxy of BJP leaders reaching the police station. Jharkhand Assembly Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, Ranchi Mayor Roshni Khalkho, BJP MLA CP Singh and others were among BJP leaders who sat outside the police station for around three hours, demanding her immediate release. Prasad was released after interrogation later in the day.
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Marandi, who was Jharkhand’s first chief minister, described Amisha Prasad’s detention as “an example of hooliganism by Jharkhand Police”. He said, “The manner in which police detained the woman clearly indicates she was tortured. The government is trying to suppress individuals’ voices. But this government should know that the more you try to suppress voices, the louder they become”.
Ranchi City SP Paras Rana told PTI that three FIRs were registered against 14 named accused and over 200 unidentified persons at Kotwali police station in connection with Friday’s clash. Leaders of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch Kunal Pratap Singh, Piyush Kumar and Ravindra Paswan are among those named in the FIRs. Charges levelled against those accused in the FIRs include obstruction in government work and clashing with police. Kunal Singh said JMM workers created violence.
JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch has been carrying on street protests against alleged irregularities in recruitment exams in Jharkhand. The Manch has accused Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren government of “deceiving” job aspirants after the high court stayed some notifications cancelling appointments through the 11th and 13th JPSC examinations and the JSSC-CGL.
As the protesters tried to set alight effigies of Hemant Soren and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, a scuffle broke out between the protesters and workers of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). There were clashes in at least four district headquarters—Ranchi, Hazaribag, Giridh and Garhwa—in the state as JMM workers tried to stop a statewide effigy-burning campaign organised by the protesters. There was a police lathicharge in Hazaribag to control the situation.
The state government’s notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL examination were stayed by Jharkhand High Court on Friday, August 21. The HC had stayed notifications cancelling the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations a day earlier. The government’s order cancelling the appointments of food safety officers was also stayed by the HC.
