Patna: Jan Suraaj Party founder and former poll strategist, Prashant Kishor, who had been on a fast unto death protest, demanding cancellation of a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam, was arrested by the Patna Police on Monday.
Reports claimed that he was “forcibly removed” from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and taken to AIIMS in an ambulance. “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, said Patna District Magistrate (DM), Chandrashekhar Singh, as quoted by the PTI. Earlier, the district administration had lodged an FIR against Kishor and his supporters claiming that the site of their protest was illegal.
According to Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, as per a Patna High Court order, “no dharna can be allowed at a spot other than the designated place in Gardani Bagh”. Meanwhile, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar alleged that the Kishor violated the rules by sitting in Gandhi Maidan against the High Court order.
Kishor has been on fast unto death since January 2. He is seeking cancellation of the integrated 70th combined (preliminary) competitive test conducted by the BPSC on December 13. BPSC had ordered the retest for a select group of candidates who had appeared in the December 13 exam. Such demands have come to the fore as the exam was embroiled over allegations of question paper leak. The retest was held on January 4 at 22 centres in Patna.
Out of a total of 12,012 candidates, around 8,111 aspirants had downloaded their admit cards. But 5,943 students appeared for the retest, reported the India Today.