PATNA: Around 200 people engaged in stone-pelting and vandalism at Patna’s Pataliputra railway station late Saturday night over an alleged shortage of trains for candidates appearing in a government recruitment examination. Police used “mild force” to bring the situation under control, officials said.Authorities, however, maintained that adequate train services had been arranged for the candidates and alleged that “anti-social elements” may have been responsible for triggering the unrest, according to news agency PTI.The incident occurred around 11.45 pm on Saturday when a large number of students gathered at Pataliputra railway station to travel to their examination centres. The disturbance continued until the early hours of Sunday. The examination is scheduled to be held from June 14 to June 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 the Railways had made arrangements in line with the anticipated demand.“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 Inspector General Jitendra Rana said no serious injuries were reported in the incident.He added that an FIR would be registered and action would be taken against those responsible after they are identified.Bihar minister Madan Sahni termed the incident “unfortunate” and said a thorough probe would 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.According to Saraswati Chandra, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) have launched a joint investigation and are examining CCTV footage to identify those involved.“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.Meanwhile, some students blamed inadequate railway arrangements for the unrest.An aspirant from Bhojpur district, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that sufficient arrangements had not been made for candidates travelling for the examination, which may have contributed to the stone-pelting incident.Another student from Saharsa district claimed that candidates had to wait for several hours before boarding trains, pointing to what he described as poor railway arrangements.The CPRO reiterated that special trains, in addition to regular services, were available on the night of the incident.
