Electoral strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor arrested during hunger strike over BPSC paper leak

Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor, who was on a fast unto death at Patna's Gandhi Maidan to press the demand for cancellation of a Bihar PSC exam, was arrested early on Jan 6, police said.

Police personnel removed him and his supporters from the protest site as they were holding the demonstration near a restricted area, and thus it was "illegal", a senior officer said.

Kishor was arrested on the fifth day of his fast-unto-death protest over an alleged question paper leak in the Dec 13 examination conducted by Bihar PSC.

According to Jan Suraaj party's supporters, the police took Kishor to Patna AIIMS for a medical examination.

Patna District Magistrate (DM) Chandrashekhar Singh said, "Yes, Kishor and his supporters, who were sitting on a dharna at Gandhi Maidan, were arrested by the police on Jan 6 morning. They will now be produced before a court."

Their demonstration was "illegal", he said, adding that they were holding the sit-in near the restricted site.

“Despite repeated requests by the officials concerned, they did not leave the place. They had also been served notice by the district administration to shift their dharna to Gardani Bagh, the dedicated place for holding protests, in the state capital," the DM said.

The Patna Police had registered a case against Kishor for holding the fast unto death at Gandhi Maidan’s restricted site, another official said.

The district administration also issued a statement, claiming that the "Kishor is absolutely fine".

Immediately after his arrest, the poll strategist-turned-politician was taken to Patna AIIMS for a medical check-up.

When Kishor was being taken out from the AIIMS in an ambulance, his supporters tried to block the road outside the hospital.

A "mild force was used to disperse Kishor’s supporters who gathered outside AIIMS and tried to disrupt traffic movement", said a senior police officer.

Kishor began his fast unto death on January 2 in support of the civil service aspirants who have been demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination held on December 13 last year.

However, the BPSC had ordered the retest for a select group of candidates who had appeared in the December 13 exam, which was embroiled over allegations of question paper leak.

The retest was held on January 4 at 22 centers.

Of 12,012 candidates, around 8,111 aspirants had downloaded their admit cards for the re-exam.

However, 5,943 candidates appeared for the retest last week.

The retest was held peacefully at all centers without report of any misconduct and malpractice, the BPSC said in a statement issued on Jan 4.

(PTI)