Tensions flared across Patna after authorities decided to cancel the sub-inspector recruitment examination, prompting thousands of agitated candidates to launch street demonstrations. The decision to scrap the test sparked immense anger, particularly among aspirants who had cleared the exam. Defying heavy security arrangements, the demonstrators pushed past police barricades and advanced toward Dak Bunglow Chauraha while demanding the immediate withdrawal of the cancellation order.
Demonstrators Surge Past Security Lines Toward Key Intersection
Police personnel were deployed across major routes in the capital to block the march and maintain public order. Despite repeated warnings and efforts by security forces to hold back the crowd, the demonstrators refused to disperse. Pushing through the barricades, candidates surged forward into central areas of the city. Aggrieved candidates argued that annulling the entire examination after they had secured qualifying scores unfairly penalises those who earned their selection through genuine preparation.
Cheating Allegations and Paper Leak Claims Prompted Scrapping
The controversy stems from the written examination conducted across two shifts on May 27 to recruit candidates for police roles. Almost immediately after the test concluded, widespread allegations of paper leaks, malpractice, and administrative irregularities surfaced. Large groups of students organized protests demanding a formal inquiry into the misconduct and called for the test to be annulled. Confronted with sustained agitation, authorities ultimately yielded to those demands and cancelled the examination. However, that cancellation has now triggered a counter-movement from successful examinees who contend that an outright cancellation was unjustified.
Protracted Impasse Over 1,799 Vacancies Fuels Instability
The recruitment drive was intended to fill 1,799 sub-inspector posts across Bihar, making it a crucial employment opportunity for thousands of state job seekers. The dispute had previously triggered sharp street clashes between police forces and protesters who claimed the selection had been compromised. In earlier phases of the standoff, aspirants had undertaken hunger strikes and even declared a plan to march on the Chief Minister's residence on September 15 to demand the cancellation of the main examination for the 1,799 posts. While that campaign forced authorities to cancel the test, the move has now alienated qualified candidates and prolonged the administrative gridlock surrounding the recruitment drive.
