On Wednesday, 4th January 2023, the Bihar police lathi-charged the young aspirants of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission exam protesting n Patna against the state government over the paper leak scandal. Due to accusations of question paper leaks on social media channels, the first sitting of the BSSC third graduate level joint preliminary test was cancelled, triggering student protests.
Students have been asking for the cancellation of all assessment phases, citing potential risks to their future.
At 11:15 am, candidates aspiring for the BSSC began to march from Patna College to Dakbunglow Road. Several candidates were hurt during the lathi-charge, and the Bihar Police also detained a number of candidates.
The students, who took to the streets, accused the Nitish Kumar government of playing with the future of the students. Anti-government slogans were raised.
MS Khan, the special executive magistrate, Patna, said, “They started violence and vandalism, and to control it, (lathi-charge) was done. Some have been arrested. FIR will be registered against them.”
Following the submission of a report by the Bihar Police’s Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) on the question paper leak, the state commission decided to cancel the first round of the recruitment exam that was scheduled to take place in the last week of December 2022. The exam was meant to fill 2,187 openings in the Bihar government. Before the first test session, the question paper purportedly appeared on social media, and pictures of it quickly went viral.
An examinee was already arrested by officials following the scandal. Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, said previously that the probe is being done properly in the case.