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Prashant Kishor, who was detained during a fast-unto-death protest at Patna's Gandhi Maidan, was sent to jail today even after he was granted bail by a court in Patna. Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mr Kishor, founder of Jan Suraaj and political strategist-turned-activist, explained why he refused to sign a bail bond. "I was taken to the court and I was granted bail but in the bail order it was mentioned that I should not do any wrongdoings, so I rejected it and I accepted to go to jail," he said.
The former poll strategist has been on the hunger strike for the last five days. He is demanding the cancellation of a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam following allegations of a question paper leak.
Prashant Kishor also narrated the sequence of events this morning: "Around 4 am today, police reached Gandhi Maidan, where I have been sitting on an indefinite fast unto death for the last five days. They told me that they were detaining me and asked me to go with them. I left with them. Since my supporters were also with me, it's natural that a minor clash broke out (between them and the police). But by and large, the behaviour of the police was not wrong."
According to the police, the protest was deemed illegal as it took place in a restricted area. The Patna District Magistrate has said that repeated notices were issued, urging Mr Kishor and his supporters to relocate the demonstration to Gardani Bagh, the designated protest site. Mr Kishor and 43 supporters were detained, and vehicles, including tractors, were seized during the operation.
As per some reports, Prashant Kishor was slapped and mistreated during the detention. The police denied all the allegations. Mr Kishor has also denied these reports, saying, "There were some reports that a policeman slapped me. No one slapped me. One of my aides was holding my hand as he didn't want me to leave. A police official tried to remove his hand from my arm so that I could leave. I don't have any complaints about the behaviour of the police".
He was taken to Patna AIIMS for a medical check-up but the administration refused to admit him, Mr Kishor claimed.
"After we left Gandhi Maidan, the police didn't tell me where they were taking me. They took me to AIIMS. I was there for more than an hour. They refused to admit me and I have no idea why. The police then tried to take me to a different hospital but by then a large crowd of my supporters had gathered at the gate of AIIMS. There was again a minor clash at the gate. From there, the behaviour of the police started deteriorating," he said.
"From 5 am to 11 am, I was made to sit in the police vehicle and they kept taking me to different places. They told me they would either take me to PMCH or NMCH but eventually, after five hours, they took me to Fatuha's community centre. They want to conduct my medical test and get a certificate from the doctors there. I refused to give my consent for that because I wasn't involved in any criminal activity. Police tried to convince the doctors for a certificate but they refused to give any such illegal certificate," Mr Kishor alleged.
He claimed that the police's argument was that they had to take a "longer route for crowd management".
The BPSC conducted a retest on January 4 for select candidates affected by the controversy. Out of 12,012 eligible candidates, only 5,943 appeared for the examination.
The issue has also reached the Supreme Court, where petitioners are seeking the cancellation of the December 13 exam and action against officials allegedly using excessive force on protestors.