Patna: Dozens of students endured some spine-chilling and scary moments on Wednesday when a mob tried to set their school bus on fire in Bihar’s Gopalganj during the Bharat Bandh called by some Dalit and Adivasi groups against a recent Supreme Court order on reservation for Scheduled Castes.
With around 35 children in the bus, Gopalganj police and district administration acted promptly to thwart a potentially fatal attack.
Videos and photos on social media showed a yellow bus surrounded by the mob armed with sticks. A man was seen setting on fire one of the bus’ tyres. Several burning tyres were also seen scattered on the road along which the bus was trying to pass.
Horrific visuals from Gopalganj, Bihar during failed #BharatBand.
A school bus was attempted to be torched with children sitting inside 😵
— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) August 21, 2024
Another video showed some men stopping a bike, with a woman riding pillion.
Gopalganj SP Swarn Prabhat informed that a high alert was issued and a large police force deployed at various locations in Gopalanj over the Bharat Bandh call.
He added that police have identified some individuals who were creating trouble through drone cameras.
“I have instructed the police station to file FIRs against the identified troublemakers and send those who attempted to set the bus on fire to jail,” the SP stated.
But for some incidents like in Gopalganj, and disruptions on National Highway and railway tracks, the call for Bharat Bandh evoked lukewarm response in the rest of the country.
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