The ransacked police kiosk on the Vidyut Bhavan premises on Monday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Hundreds of agitating junior contractual linesmen of Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) on Monday allegedly tried to gatecrash into Vidyut Bhavan seeking permanent jobs, forcing Bihar Military Police jawans to open fire in the air.

The linesmen pelted stones, attacked the security guards at the Bhavan and tried to gatecrash into the premises in support of their various demands, including the assurance that no one would be terminated from service.

“We have been working for the past three to four years on contract. We have experience in discharging our duties efficiently. The government has regularised the services of experienced people in other departments and that is why our service must also be regularised,” Anand Kumar, a protesting employee, said.

The incident started around 2pm and went on for about an hour before the mob dispersed. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident. District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh and Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amrit Raj would also investigate into the case.

Most policemen, including the Patna SSP, kept mum about the incident, but BSEB spokesperson H.R. Pandey confirmed that a BMP jawan fired shots in the air as things started getting out of control.

“All their demands have been agreed to. Their (protesters’) representatives met a member of BSEB administration, Rana Awadhesh, on Monday morning. Awadhesh assured them no one would be terminated from service. It was also assured that they would be given priority in the recruitment with age relaxation, if required. But then there were some troublemongers who wanted to create a ruckus and they suddenly started pelting stones. The windscreens of two vehicles were smashed and one BMP jawan was injured,” Pandey told The Telegraph.

“Vidyut Bhavan has the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) from where electricity is supplied to several districts. The office also has a cash centre. The responsibility of the jawans was to protect the building and they did that. Shots were fired to disperse the mob,” he said.

In the morning, the linesmen, who carry out repair work such as fuse-off calls, maintenance work of power supply in a particular area, had staged a dharna outside Vidyut Bhavan demanding regularisation of their services. These linesmen play a crucial role in carrying out smooth power supply.

The state electricity board, on June 21, issued a directive terminating the services of the junior linesmen.

However, the board stayed the decision the very next day after the contractual workers held a state-wide protest disrupting power supply to different parts of the state, except Patna.