Agnipath protest: 805 nabbed, 148 FIRs lodge for creating public chaos in Bihar

Additional chief secretary, home, Chaitanya Prasad said that those indulging in creating a public nuisance in the name of agitation and targeting public properties would not be spared.

PATNA: Taking serious exception to the violent protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, the police have lodged 148 first information reports (FIRs) and arrested 805 people for creating chaos and damaging public and private property in the past three days, officials said.

Police detain Congress workers during their protest march against ‘Agnipath scheme’ in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Additional chief secretary, home, Chaitanya Prasad said that those indulging in creating a public nuisance in the name of agitation and targeting public properties would not be spared. “The district police have been directed to pick up the trouble mongers,” he said.

On Sunday, chief secretary Amir Subhani held a meeting with the district authorities through video conferencing to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of violent protests, which led to massive damage of railway property, police installations, and private properties as well.

Security of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders has been upgraded in the wake of seething unrest among the youths against the scheme—short-duration recruitment in armed forces as soldiers, airmen, and sailors—while Central forces have been deputed at the district BJP offices.

In Patna, FIRs have been lodged against four coaching institutes in Masaurhi for their suspected role in massive stone-pelting at Taregana stations on Saturday. “As many as 191 persons have been arrested in the district on the charges of holding the city to ransom,” said district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, adding that 75 persons suspected to be involved in stone-pelting at Taregana have been taken into custody.

The police have also arrested 41 persons for attacking Paliganj police station and torching police vehicles and a bus on Friday.

Meanwhile, leaders of the state Congress took out a march in Patna in support of the youths, protesting against the Agnipath scheme, and urged them to stay away from the violence. Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) chief Madan Mohan Jha led the march, which was taken out from the state party office. BPCC media in charge said that the scheme would spoil the career of those aspiring to serve the armed forces to protect the nation.