Cuttack: Twenty-one activists who had resorted to violent protest at the Board of Secondary Education headquarters here on Tuesday have been sent to jail after a local court rejected their bail plea.
The activists of the RSS-backed student group were protesting against the alleged leaks of matriculation exam question papers.
"The bail applications of all the 21 ABVP activists, who were forwarded to the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, were rejected. They were sent to jail late on Tuesday," assistant public prosecutor Biswajit Baral said.
The police registered cases at Manglabag station under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 307 (attempt to murder), Section 147 (rioting), Section 448 (trespassing), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharging of duty), Section 506 (criminal intimidation), Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 427 (causing damage to property). They are currently lodged at Choudwar Jail.
Around 30 ABVP activists arrived at the board headquarters around 11am on Tuesday to protest against incidents of matriculation question papers going viral on WhatsApp. They also intended to submit a memorandum to the board president.
However, things took a violent turn when they tried to forcibly enter through the main entrance.
Security guards prevented them from entering and a scuffle broke out. Board authorities then sought police protection.
Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Akhileswar Singh said: "On getting information about vandalism and lawlessness by ABVP activists, the Manglabag police station inspector-in-charge and a team of officers rushed to the spot to prevent further breach of peace."
"But they used criminal force and assaulted police officers, injuring Manas Kumar Barik, an inspector, and P.K. Satpathy, an assistant sub-inspector, of Manglabag police station. Several other officers also suffered injuries."
"The ruckus also paralysed the examination process at the board office. We used minimum force in order to prevent serious law and order situation and also apprehended the agitators," Singh said.
The police had registered the cases on the basis of a complaint by board president Jahan Ara Begum. "Further investigation is ongoing," the police said.
