The Bihar government has transferred Siwan Superintendent of Police Puran Kumar Jha following the controversy over the use of an AK-47 by a police constable during student protests in the district on July 25.
The constable who allegedly fired the rifle in Siwan has already been suspended. The state has maintained that nobody was injured by those four rounds. The constable, Abhishek Kumar, was allegedly surrounded by protesters during the confrontation. The state did, however, acknowledge that three protesters suffered minor firearm injuries during the police action that day.
In a major reshuffle, the Bihar government on Tuesday transferred 17 senior IPS officers, including the SPs of Bhojpur and Siwan, where police action had sparked controversy. The Bihar government has told the Supreme Court that the constable fired four rounds from the AK-47 only after he became trapped and surrounded by protesters, and that the shots were fired into the air. It specifically disputed any connection between those injuries and Kumar’s AK-47.
The Bihar government said none of the protesters was injured as a result of that particular firing.
The state told the Supreme Court that he “got trapped in the crowd” and fired four rounds from his AK-47 “in the air” in an attempt to deal with the situation. The state has told the Supreme Court that the police exercised restraint during the protests and did not use disproportionate force against demonstrators.
The Bihar government’s response was filed before the Supreme Court in proceedings arising from petitions alleging excessive use of force by police during protests associated with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led movement in New Delhi.
