Authorities for slapping murder charges over official’s death during chaos at BPSC exam centre

Patna: The Patna district administration on Sunday recommended slapping of murder charges on those who had tried to disrupt a recent examination held here by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), during which an official on duty died of heart attack.

The recommendation was made in a report submitted by the district magistrate to the BPSC, copies of which were made available to the media.

The incident took place at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar in Patna’s Kumhrar locality, which was one of the more than 900 centres for the combined (preliminary) competitive examination. Nearly 5 lakh candidates appeared for the exam held for hiring people in Group A and B posts.

The report of an inquiry by a deputy collector-rank officer speaks of "anti-social elements posing as examinees... hell-bent upon causing some type of disruption which could lead to cancellation of the test".

The report also stressed on the need for "looking into the role of many coaching institutes" in the entire episode.

On the date of the exam, a group of candidates at Bapu Pariksha Parisar, where more than 5,000 aspirants had turned up, stormed out of their examination halls, alleging that question papers were leaked.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the centre as well and the situation was brought under control through police intervention. Patna DM Chandrashekhar Singh also reached the spot and a video clip of him slapping one of the unruly protesters went viral on social media.

During the ruckus, an official, Ram Iqbal Singh, suffered a heart attack. The report of the district administration blamed his death on the blockade of traffic adjoining the centre because of which the official could not be taken to a hospital in time.

"Hence, stern disciplinary and legal action must be taken against the candidates and other anti-social elements (involved in the protests) and slapping murder charges on them is hereby recommended," added the report.

Talking to PTI on Sunday, the Patna DM said, “The district administration is analysing CCTV footage of the Bapu Pariksha Parisar examination centre. Two teams have been constituted under the supervision of Patna SSP to identify 10-12 anti-social elements who created ruckus there.” He said that those elements snatched question papers from examinees of other examination halls and provided question papers to outsiders while protesting inside the campus.

“They also made the centre's examination superintendent hostage. They were forcing him to announce cancellation of the exam, which he did not do,” Singh said.

If they turn out to be examinees, the district administration requests the Commission to debar them from appearing in the BPSC exams, the DM said adding that they would be sent to jail.

The district police have so far registered two FIRs pertaining to the matter, said the DM. A total of 5,671 candidates completed their papers at the same centre without any hassle, he said.

“It appears that under the pretext of late distribution of question paper booklets, some candidates intended to disrupt the exam by spreading rumours as part of a conspiracy to get the examination cancelled.

“The candidates were not supposed to take booklets, question papers and OMR sheets out of the examination centre before the completion of the examination,” said the DM.

The role of some coaching institutes also needs to be investigated in this connection, he added.