RANCHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday extended his support to Jharkhand student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who was hospitalised after his health deteriorated during a hunger strike over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.Dipke said he spoke to Mahto before the latter was taken to hospital and claimed that the student leader had suffered injuries in an alleged police lathicharge during Monday’s protest march. He also said Mahto was experiencing chest pain.In a post on X, Dipke said, “Spoke to Devendra Mahto, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 9 days.He told me that before being taken to the hospital, he was lathi-charged by the police and suffered injuries. He is also experiencing chest pain.”Calling the alleged police action against protesters “cruel and inhuman”, Dipke drew a parallel with the student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.“Be it Jantar Mantar or Jharkhand, such police brutality against students is cruel and inhuman,” he said.Dipke further said CJP stood behind Mahto and his protest, describing him as a “true hero”.“CJP stands firmly with Devendra bhai and his struggle. He is a true hero. We salute his courage and strength!” he said.Mahto has been at the centre of the ongoing JPSC-JSSC agitation in Ranchi over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.He had been on an indefinite hunger strike and joined the students’ Vidhan Sabha gherao march on Monday, arriving at the protest in an ambulance because of his deteriorating health.The protest has been demanding action over alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), with students seeking, among other things, cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination and a CBI probe.The agitation intensified on Monday as thousands of aspirants marched towards the state assembly and police used lathis, water cannons, barbed wire and tear gas to disperse protesters who attempted to cross barricades.Mahto’s hospitalisation came after nine days of hunger strike, with his health deteriorating during the agitation.Dipke’s intervention also marks another instance of the CJP founder publicly aligning himself with student-led protests after the party’s own agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar last month over alleged examination irregularities.
