Ranchi: Clashes broke out between police and students protesting alleged irregularities in Jharkhand recruitment exams in Ranchi and a few other districts on Friday, while the high court stayed notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL tests.
The confrontation between security personnel and the protesters took place when members of the ‘JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch’ marched towards the JPSC office here, disrupting traffic, police said.
The agitators had gathered at Albert Chowk to burn effigies of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, to protest against job exam “anomalies” and what they called “betrayal” by the state government by not strongly defending cases in the high court.
Police said it used mild force to disperse the demonstrators after the scuffle broke out in Ranchi.
The protesters also created a law-and-order situation near Sadar Hospital, prompting intervention to prevent inconvenience to patients, an officer said.
Ranchi City Deputy SP, K V Raman, said the students protested in front of the JPSC office without permission.
Officer-in-charge of Lalpur Police Station, Rupesh Kumar Singh, said the scuffle broke out after protesting students changed the designated route and brought traffic to a halt.
“The students changed the route defined for the march and effigy burning… They went to the JPSC office and brought traffic to a halt there. The agitators did not listen to our repeated pleas to adhere to the designated route,” Singh said.
The student leaders alleged that the police and workers of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) tried to prevent them from holding a peaceful march.
“They cannot stop us from holding peaceful and democratic protests,” JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch leader Ravindra Paswan said.
Piyush Kumar Singh, another student leader, claimed that one of the core committee members of the Manch, Kunal, was detained by the police, but he fainted and was subsequently taken to Sadar Hospital.
The agitators also alleged that even female protesters were thrashed during the scuffle by JMM workers.
Similar incidents were reported from Hazaribag and Giridih, where JMM workers clashed with students trying to burn effigies of Soren.
Meanwhile, JLKM leader Devendra Nath Mahto said it would launch a ‘Recruitment System Reforms Yatra’ from August 24, alleging that the Jharkhand government was not strongly defending cases related to the cancellation of several recruitment examinations in the high court.
He warned that if the government failed to effectively present its case before the Jharkhand High Court on September 15, when matters are scheduled for hearing, they would plan to gherao the chief minister’s residence.
The high court on Friday stayed notifications cancelling the appointments of Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) and those recruited through the JSSC-CGL examination.
On Thursday, the court had stayed notifications cancelling the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, and also stayed the order cancelling the appointments of food safety officers.