Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], August 12 : Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly Babulal Marandi on Wednesday alleged that police used force to remove protesting students from the protest site late Tuesday night and tried to weaken their movement.
Marandi said that the City SP, SSP and DC reached the protest site around 1:30-2 AM and used force to remove the students.
He said the officials told the students that the work of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) was over and questioned the need for continuing the protest.
Speaking to ANI, Marandi said, "This morning I learned that the police had come here late last night around 1:30-2 AM. The City SP, SSP, and DC had arrived here, and they even used force to remove the students and tried to weaken the movement. They were saying that the work of JPSC is done, so what do you people need now? But in reality, the work of JPSC hasn't even been done."
He further alleged that the government was trying to suppress the movement to avoid a CBI investigation.
"They are saying that we have cancelled the exam, but cancelling the exam is no solution, whereas the solution is to investigate why the exam was cancelled, and there should be a CBI inquiry into that. That's the only demand of the children.... Now, why is the government running away from a CBI investigation? Because they know that the day the investigation happens, the heat of the investigation will reach the top of the power structure, and that's why they are trying to suppress the movement," he further said.
Meanwhile, Ranchi Superintendent of Police (SP) Paras Rana said that the officials had not come to the protest site to detain anyone.
On Monday, a large number of students gathered near the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha as part of a march organised by the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch. The protesters formed a human chain and marched towards the Assembly, seeking action on their demands.
The protests intensified after Monday's "Vidhan Sabha gherao" march, during which police used water cannons and lathis to control the crowd as the protesters moved towards the Assembly.
The students have been protesting over alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC). They were demanding cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities and comprehensive reforms in the recruitment process.