A car damaged during the clash in Patna on Monday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna city superintendent of police Jayant Kant on Monday suffered injuries in a protest rally of around 2,000 would-be constables.

The wannabe constables, who had cleared the recruitment process in 2004, are yet to receive the appointment letters. Sources said the state government has been sitting on the recruitment process of the constables because it is marred with corruption.

As a mark of dissent, the protesters blocked Bailey Road in front of Patna High Court around 1.30pm. This led to a three-hour snarl across Patna and the police had to lathi charge on the protesters to make way for commuters.

“How can someone block the road near the high court, considered a highly secured zone? Commuters were caught in the jam for hours. There was no way out of the jam for at least three hours. This was unbearable, especially when the day was humid and the maximum temperature touched 35 degrees Celsius. The snarl spilled over to Income Tax roundabout and the Dakbungalow roundabout. It was a tough day for commuters,” said Ravi Kumar, a private sector employee.

The protesters, on the other hand, blamed the “apathetic” attitude of state government officials for whom they have been waiting for almost nine years to get a job.

“There are 10,000 people across the state who were to be recruited for different posts, mainly constabulary. The written examination was conducted and the physical tests, too, were done. We got our results stating that we have been selected. But no appointment letters were issued even when the government went into the hands of the JD(U) and the BJP (the former NDA government). In February 2013, the high court had criticised the state government, stating that despite directions, no recruitments were being done. The state is not even listening to the high court directive. We are jobless and many of us have grown old now. If this continues, we will prefer to become Maoists,” said one of the protesters, who did not wish to be named.

He added that the state government has announced fresh recruitments to the post of constables. “But no one is thinking about us,” the person said. Soon after the chaos spiralled out of control on Bailey Road, a team of policemen, headed by Jayant Kant, reached the spot to pacify the protesters.

They even requested them to move away from the road and allow vehicular movement. When the protesters refused to move, the police retorted to lathi charge. “The protesters turned violent and smashed the windscreens of several vehicles. The police had no option but to resort to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd,” a police officer said.

In the process, the city SP received injuries on his left hand. Traffic normality was restored only after 4pm.