Jharkhand: ABVP workers detained after clash with police during march to Assembly

Several Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad workers were detained on Tuesday after clashing with police during a march towards the Jharkhand Assembly, PTI reported. The workers were demonstrating against the use of lathis and tear gas on students a day earlier during a protest over alleged irregularities in a civil services examination.

The detention came as the Bharatiya Janata Party called for a statewide bandh from 8 am to midnight on Tuesday in protest against the police action, PTI reported.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the BJP.

The Mahagathbandhan alliance, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and comprising the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, is in power in Jharkhand.

The protests in Jharkhand began on July 25, inspired by the agitation across the country against alleged mismanagement of national competitive examinations. The protesters have been holding a sit-in at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, with six demonstrators on fast.

On Monday, thousands of students marched towards the Assembly as part of their protest. Several protesters were injured after police lathi-charged them and fired tear gas. Despite the police action, protesters breached several barricades and reached the Assembly premises. The House had already been...

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