SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 7: Students on Saturday blocked National Highway-32 at Randhir Verma Chowk for several hours to enforce the ABVP sponsored Dhanbad bandh call in protest against the use of lathis on intermediate failed girl students who had gone to meet Health Minister Banna Gupta at the collectorate yesterday.
When the police removed them from Randhir Verma Chowk, the agitating students went to City Centre and sat near Gandhi statue to continue their agitation in support of their demands.
Agitating students were holding posters and banners of protest and were shouting slogans against the district administration and the state government.
The bandh had a massive impact in Jharia township also where the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists under Jharia town president Rahul Soni, Shailesh Singh Chandravanshi got markets at Bata More, Dharmashala Road, Jharia 4 no. closed in protest of the lathi charge.
“ We would continue the agitation till Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) does not review the result and Dhanbad SDM Surendra Kumar who beat the girl students at the collectorate is not removed,” said Rajiv Ranjan, ABVP leader.
Earlier in the morning around 10 am hundreds of intermediate failed boys and girls students under the banner of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) assembled at Golf ground and reached Randhir Verma Chowk in procession and sat on the road resulting in transport movement on NH-32 completely paralyzed.
Though the ABVP had given the bandh call today and the BJP district unit had supported it, there was no impact of the call on markets and the transport movement in the coal city. In the wake of the bandh call, heavy police forces were deployed at Randhir Verma Chowk, City Centre, Luby Circular Road, Bank More to monitor the movement of agitating students.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manoj Swargyari was monitoring the situation. A heavy contingent of women police was also following the procession of the agitating students.” Neither any untoward incident was reported nor any agitating student was taken into custody,” the ASP told media persons.
