Agnipath protest: Nearly 1,000 people held in Bihar so far; coaching centre raided

Bihar Police raided the residence and coaching centre of one Guru Rahman who is the accused in Danapur Railway Station violence case. Police earlier said the role of coaching centres are being investigated as WhatsApp messages of some of these places have been found from those arrested.

As many as 922 people have so far been arrested in Bihar for damaging government properties, vandalism and arson during the ongoing agitation against the new ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme.

Protestors set ablaze Farakka Express train at Danapur Railway Station during a protest against the Agnipath scheme, in Patna, Bihar. (Photo by Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

In a statement, additional director general of police headquarters, JS Gangwar said a total of 183 people were arrested on June 16 - the first day of the protest and a day later, the number went up to 306.

Catch latest updates of Agnipath protest here

The ADG added that the spike in the number of arrested persons on the second day of the stir helped in cutting down the number of violent incidents on June 18 (the third day) despite a call for Bihar Bandh.

"June 18 also saw the maximum number of 381 arrests in a day. This resulted in a complete order yesterday. We are still in the process of identifying those directly involved in depredation as well as the instigators. None will be spared," Gangwar told reporters after attending a high-level meeting on law and order of the eastern state, chaired by DGP SK Singhal.

The Bihar Police has also registered as many as 161 first information reports (FIRs) till now.

Gangwar said the Bharat Bandh called to protest against the Centre's new recruitment model received a lukewarm response in Bihar, even as heavy deployment of police was ensured across the state.

Police foiled efforts by bandh supporters to enforce shutdown on shops and offices that remained open. Furthermore, student bodies staged demonstrations in several regions of the state. However, none of these protests turned violent, news agency PTI reported.

The Eastern Central Railway (ECR) on Saturday announced regulation of train operations that remained in effect till Monday. According to a statement from the zone, the restrictions will be done away with starting Tuesday due to improvement in law and order in Bihar. “We are drawing the schedule accordingly,” zonal chief public relations officer Virendra Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.

In another development, the Bihar Police raided the residence and coaching centre of one Guru Rahman who is the accused in Danapur Railway Station violence case. Police earlier said the role of coaching centres are being investigated as WhatsApp messages of some of these places have been found from those arrested. Patna district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh said these messages were of “provocative nature”.

Violent protests at railway stations in Bihar have caused the Railways a loss of more than ₹250 crore. These include over 60 coaches and seven locomotive engines of 18 trains that were burnt down on the first two days of the protest against the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment policy.

(With inputs from ANI)