Patna: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Tuesday accused the Bihar police of violating "legal procedures and police manuals" while tackling the recent NEET paper leak protests in the state.
He was speaking at a press conference in Patna to brief the conclusions of Congress' fact-finding exercise conducted across six districts of Bihar on Saturday and Sunday.
Kumar alleged that there was a "dangerous change" in the police's approach towards handling democratic protests, with the focus shifting from maintaining law and order to the brute use of batons and tear gas.
"The state government is attempting to turn 'loktantra' (democracy) into 'lathitantra' (system based on batons) and 'golitantra' (bullet system). An atmosphere of intolerance towards dissent has emerged in the state," he said.
He claimed that Congress' fact-finding teams found that police manuals were brazenly ignored during the handling of protests.
"We collected videos, photographs, testimonies of victims and statements of police personnel as part of our fact-finding exercise. While incidents of violence during protests cannot be ruled out, the police response was disproportionate and marked by barbarity," the Congress leader said.
Citing the findings, Kumar alleged that some protestors were shot above the waist, an AK-47 rifle was used in Siwan, minors and students without any criminal records were detained, women were kept in police stations after sunset in violation of legal provisions, etc.
"A youth preparing for recruitment under the Agniveer scheme suffered a bullet injury in the leg, while another youth from Arwal was shot near the neck. Minors were detained illegally, arrest memos were not properly prepared, and family members were often not informed about detainees' whereabouts. Students were shifted between police stations, subjected to mental harassment and, in some cases, branded as terrorists by police personnel," he said.
He alleged that some officers "put the law at stake to appease their political masters" by exercising "barbarity" against students.
"Even people following a particular political ideology spread anarchy in plain clothes during the protests to frighten students and their families. The government should take responsibility for all this," he added.
Kumar rejected claims that all cases against protesting students were withdrawn, alleging that while some cases in Patna were reportedly being dropped, students in other districts like Bhagalpur continued to face criminal cases and many had not yet returned home.
He also claimed that some people arrested in Patna had no involvement in the protests and were detained despite not participating in demonstrations.
"Police should come up with clear answers as to how many people were arrested or detained, under what charges and how many of them have been released. They should also reveal on whose orders the bullets were fired. Bihar is the mother of democracy, and we will not let anybody turn it into a police state," Kumar said.
The Congress leader claimed that journalists and social media influencers were targeted and told to delete certain videos they had captured while covering the protests.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
