Ranchi, Aug 13: Ranchi police have registered an FIR against around 300 unidentified people in connection with the August 10 march to the Jharkhand Assembly by students protesting alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations, officials said on Thursday.
The case was registered at the Vidhan Sabha police station on the complaint of a magistrate who was deployed near the Assembly during the march, they said.
The accused have been booked for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, damaging government property and assaulting police personnel.
“An FIR has been lodged against 300 unknown miscreants at the Vidhan Sabha police station for disrupting the peaceful march to the assembly on August 10,” Ranchi SP Paras Rana told PTI.
Police are examining CCTV and other video footage to identify those allegedly involved in the incident.
“The process to identify these miscreants is underway through video footage,” DSP (Hatia) Neeraj Kumar said.
“No detention or arrest was made in connection with the case. Video clips are being scanned to identify miscreants and take further action,” Kumar said.
Police claimed that the individuals involved were not students but anti-social elements who allegedly took advantage of the student protest to escalate the situation.
Fourteen police personnel were injured during clashes with protesters on August 10, according to officials. Police used batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse the agitators.
The Ranchi administration had earlier imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) within a 750-metre radius of the Assembly ahead of the Monsoon Session.
The restrictions, effective from 8 am on August 6 to 10 pm on August 12, prohibited unlawful assemblies of five or more people, processions, marches and demonstrations. The Assembly’s Monsoon Session was held from August 6 to 11.
The job aspirants have been protesting in Ranchi for around 20 days over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. They have been demanding greater transparency and action on their grievances.
Police said further legal action would be taken after the alleged offenders are identified from the available video footage.
Meanwhile, the issue also triggered a political response in Parliament. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, along with party colleagues, staged a protest in the Parliament complex on Thursday, demanding that the government respond to the alleged lathicharge during the Jharkhand student agitation.
The August 10 clash has become a fresh flashpoint in the ongoing dispute between the protesting students and the state administration over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.
