Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, on Wednesday, along with hundreds of supporters, braved water cannons during a protest march from JP roundabout to Lok Bhawan before being detained by the police at the Income Tax roundabout.
SSP Kartikeya K Sharma confirmed that Tejashwi Yadav was detained. Yadav was bundled into a police van, along with key aides like Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav, and the vehicle took them to an undisclosed location. The former deputy CM and his supporters stood waving the tricolour, undeterred by water cannons used by the police. “These tactics are not going to dampen our spirit. We will make the government see reason and listen to the voice of the students,” he added. “The government is pushing the future of students into darkness. Exam papers are getting leaked frequently,” he alleged, while being put inside a police van.
The march was taken out by the RJD to protest the police firing at student demonstrators in Siwan on July 25 and demand for action against officials responsible for use of AK-47 assault rifle by a cop during the police firing on student demonstrators. Some of them also carried dummies of the AK-47 rifle. RJD leader and Patliputra MP Misa Bharti, who also participated in the march, said the government having just transferred the SP Siwan on August 18 and suspended the constable who used the assault rifle on student demonstrators in Siwan was just an eyewash.
“Why action has not been taken against those responsible for the use of AK-47 on student demonstrators?Suspending or transferring some officers does not absolve the government of the way police used brutal methods against student demonstrators,” said Misa.
Earlier, the RJD’s protest march started from the JP roundabout near Gandhi Maidan before noon and traversed its way towards the Dak Bungalow roundabout where there was a clash between party supporters and police, who had put barricades at different points.
