A BJP leader was killed during clashes between BJP workers and Patna Police, where protesters were lathi-charged for holding a “Vidhan Sabha march” in support of demands of teachers' job aspirants. According to reports, the BJP leader, identified as Vijay Kumar Singh, the party's Jehanabad District General Secretary suffered grave injuries during the clashes at Dakbangla Chauraha in the Bihar capital. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
"Arrested by Bihar police in Patna, Jehanabad dist GS Vijay Kumar Singh died in brutal police lathi charge", senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted.
In a statement, the district administration in Patna, however, denied the police killing and said that Singh was "found unconscious by the roadside". "No injury marks have been found on his body," he said and added that Singh has been taken to PMCH, the state's largest government hospital.
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The protests come days after the government ended the domicile policy in the teacher recruitment process for the Central Teachers’ Eligibility Test (CTET). Security personnel used several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse BJP workers from the area.
The protest was against the change in recruitment policy for teachers. "The BJP is organising a protest march against the new recruitment policy for teachers on Thursday. The march will begin at Gandhi Maidan and conclude at the gate of the state assembly," state BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand had said.
On July 11, teaching job aspirants protested in Patna against the government's decision to remove the domicile policy in hiring 1.7 lakh teachers, which would allow people from other states to take part in the process. Some teachers also participated in the protest. The Education Department had asked the district education officers to identify those teachers, PTI reported.
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Bihar Government cancels teachers' leaves
Amid BJP's protests over the recruitment policy, the Bihar government cancelled the leaves of all teachers for a week, according to an official document. The Education Department also asked the district magistrates to inspect all state-run schools on Thursday to check the attendance of teachers.
The reasons behind the directives were not specified by the department in the letters. However, the opposition BJP claimed that the directions were given to prevent teachers from participating in its state-wide protest against the new recruitment policy.
