Around 200 people resorted to stone-pelting and vandalisation at Patna’s Pataliputra railway station over alleged shortage of trains for students appearing for a government exam, prompting police to deploy “mild force” to contain the chaos, officials said.
Officials, however, maintained that appropriate arrangements of train services were ensured for students, alleging that “anti-social elements” with ulterior motives might be behind the “ruckus” created at the station.
The incident took place around 11.45 pm on Saturday when a large number of students gathered at Pataliputra railway station to go to their respective exam centres. The chaos continued until early Sunday. The exam spans June 14-17.
“Last night, candidates appearing for the Excise Constable examination were present in large numbers at the station. There might be some anti-social elements among them, who tried to create a ruckus. Mild force was used to disperse the crowd. Efforts are underway to identify the miscreants,” East Central Railways Chief Public Relations Officer Saraswati Chandra told reporters on Sunday.
Patna District Magistrate S M Thiyagarajan said that as per expected demand, arrangements were made by the Railways for special trains which were at the station.
“However, some anti-social elements got mixed up with the crowd and started stone-pelting. They were dispersed using mild force and peace was restored,” he added.
Patna Zone IG Jitendra Rana said that no serious injuries occurred during the incident.
He said an FIR will be registered and due action will be taken against the miscreants after their identification.
Bihar minister Madan Sahni described the incident as “unfortunate” and said that a proper investigation will be conducted.
“This is not the first time that such exams were being conducted. They keep happening on a regular basis. But such behaviour is not appropriate. This was an unfortunate incident. Probably, some outsiders might have mixed with the candidates. A proper investigation will be conducted,” he said.
RPF and GRP are jointly investigating the matter. They are checking the CCTV footage and identifying the guilty, Saraswati Chandra said.
“The situation is absolutely normal now. We have kept ready 16 special trains from now until tonight for different parts of the state,” he said.
However, a section of students cited “poor arrangement” by the Railways for appearing candidates as the reason behind the incident.
An aspirant hailing from Bhojpur district, on the condition of anonymity, alleged that adequate arrangements were not made by the Railways for the students appearing for the exam, which could be a reason behind the stone pelting incident.
Another student from Saharsa district said that aspirants were forced to wait for several hours before boarding trains, indicating poor arrangements by the railways.
The CPRO said special trains were available besides regular trains on the night of the incident.
