RANCHI: Jharkhand CID on Monday arrested former Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) chairperson L Khiangte in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.The arrest came as the agitation over alleged irregularities entered its 17th day, with protesters marching towards the state assembly, which is currently in session.The protesters breached multiple barricades despite a heavy security deployment and attempted to reach the Assembly Complex. Police used water cannons when the march reached Jagannathpur Temple, before baton-charging the demonstrators as they tried to move forward.Several protesters claimed they were injured in the police action.“The baton charge was barbaric. We were protesting peacefully, but the government used batons against us. They can only inflict physical injuries, not harm our thoughts,” Piyush Kumar Soni, a protester, told PTI.“Many female students sustained injuries. Police hit us on our head, arms, face everywhere,” he claimed.Vikram Kumar, who came from Hazaribag district to join the protest, claimed he suffered a head injury.“Whatever the Hemant Soren government is doing to us is not good. We were protesting peacefully, then why is your police baton charging us,” he asked.The march began outside the old Assembly building at around 10.30am and coincided with Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s 51st birthday.JLKM leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who has been on a hunger strike for nine days over the issue, joined the march in an ambulance. He was carrying a portrait of former chief minister Shibu Soren.Mahto objected to the installation of barbed-wire barricades along the route, saying anger was growing among students over what they described as injustices in the recruitment process.Carrying tricolours and placards, the protesters raised slogans demanding the cancellation of recruitment examinations and an independent probe. Their placards included messages such as “Cancel JSSC-CGL Exams or Conduct a CBI Probe”, “Why is CID escaping from conducting a raid on JSSC?” and “Conduct an impartial investigation, bring out the truth”.As police used water cannons near Jagannathpur Temple, protesters broke into dance while waving the tricolour. The situation escalated when they tried to advance towards the Assembly, prompting the police to baton-charge them.“If we cannot reach the assembly, our voices must reach them. We do not fear the government, which is treating us like traitors. We have been compelled to take to the streets,” a protester said.The JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, which is spearheading the agitation, said it had deployed around 500 volunteers to prevent anti-social elements from joining the march.Its leader Ravindra Paswan said attempts were being made by anti-social elements to disrupt the demonstrations.Authorities imposed prohibitory orders and deployed more than 1,500 personnel from the Rapid Action Force, Indian Reserve Battalion, district police and Quick Response Teams along the nearly 4km route to the Assembly.
What are the protesters demanding?
The protesters are seeking comprehensive reforms in the JPSC and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).They are also demanding cancellation of several recruitment examinations, including the 14th Jharkhand PSC Civil Services Examination, and an independent probe into the alleged irregularities.The protesters want the investigation to be conducted either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a panel of retired high court judges from outside Jharkhand.The government has held several rounds of talks with the protesters but has failed to break the deadlock.After the latest round of discussions, the government said it had accepted 98% of the protesters’ demands.The protesters, however, said the government had agreed to cancel only three of the 13 examinations they wanted scrapped.The arrest of former JPSC chairperson L Khiangte comes against the backdrop of the continuing protests and growing demands for an independent investigation into alleged irregularities in the state’s recruitment examinations.
