SSC Protest: 207 Students Detained After Clashes With Police Released

Nearly 3,000 Staff Selection Commission (SSC) aspirants took to streets in Delhi on March 31 to demand a CBI probe into the leak of SSC papers, leading to a scuffle with the police in Lutyens’ Delhi.

SSC aspirants staged a protest at Jantar Mantar and accused the government of failing to prevent paper leaks, demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and adequate jobs for the educated youth of the country, as reported by NDTV.

The protest

Students had given a deadline of 3 pm to the authorities concerned for a written assurance on their demands or else they would march towards the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) office.

By the time they arrived, police and security personnel had taken hold of the area, and as the students attempted approaching towards DOPT, they were detained by the police.

Some of them even tried marching towards Connaught Place but were nabbed and detained by the police. Not only around 200 protesters were detained, but the clash brought traffic to a halt for over an hour in Lutyens’ Delhi.

According to a statement by a committee of the SSC aspirants, “the group started marching towards Connaught place were lathi-charged and manhandled by the Delhi Police,” reported Firstpost.

Condemning the incident, the Committee said, “some students also sustained injuries, and some even fainted in the commotion.”

On the contrary, the police denied having used force.

“No force has been used. They were stopped from going towards Connaught Place using barricades. Police have shown tremendous restraint. It is an example of professional policing,” Chaudhary, Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi range told PTI.

He added, “They had a series of meetings with the New Delhi district police, and they were constantly advised to go to Ramlila Maidan, as protests have been banned by the NGT at Jantar Mantar. However, they insisted and organised the protest.”

“It became a leaderless protest. A breakaway group of around 200-300 people rushed to Connaught Place. With great effort and alacrity and alertness, the New Delhi district police responded and stopped them on Janpath. As many as 207 people have been detained,” he said.

“207 people have been detained in the process of maintaining law and order at Sansad Marg Police Station. Police have worked with utmost patience today. We will take action against people who have obstructed the police on duty,” continued the Joint CP.

All the 207 detained students are now released.

Students speak out

One of the committees of the SSC aspirants told PTI, “We held a gathering of thousands of students at Sansad Marg to protest the SSC scam. We have been demanding an independent and time-bound CBI probe into the conduct of all SSC examinations.”

“Even after protesting for over a month, the government has not agreed to our genuine demands. Until the demands of the SSC aspirants are met, the movement will continue,” the SSC aspirants Committee added.

“If the government cannot hear out the demands of the protesting students, the minister of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) should resign”, said the Committee.

Background

Aspirants are protesting since February 28 of alleged paper leaks and mass cheating in across SSC exams. Their main demand is a time-bound CBI enquiry on the entire scam. Till now, the SSC has conducted a re-exam of only one paper.

Students protested on March 31 for SSC’s repeated failure to secure the examinations that are taken by lakhs of students across the country.