Top cop in Bihar's Siwan transferred amid row over AK-47 at student protest

The Bihar government has transferred Siwan Superintendent of Police Puran Kumar Jha following the controversy over the use of an AK-47 by a police constable during student protests in the district on July 25.

In a major reshuffle, the Bihar government on Tuesday transferred 17 senior IPS officers, including the SPs of Bhojpur and Siwan, where police action had sparked controversy. The constable who allegedly fired the rifle in Siwan has already been suspended.

Jha has been placed on the waiting list for a new posting. Bharat Soni has been appointed as the SP of Siwan to replace him.

The SP of Bhojpur, where the encounter of local activist Bharat Tiwari had triggered an outcry, has also been transferred. According to the government circular, Awadesh Dikshit has been appointed the new SP of the Bhojpur district.

Tejashwi Yadav raises questions

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, questioned how a constable deployed during a student protest obtained an AK-47 and which unit or armoury issued it.

The RJD leader also asked who authorised the issue of the weapon and whether the complete command chain involved in allocating a modern weapon such as an AK-47 should be examined.

What did the Bihar government say on the AK-47 controversy?

The Bihar government has told the Supreme Court that the constable fired four rounds from the AK-47 only after he became trapped and surrounded by protesters, and that the shots were fired into the air. The state has maintained that nobody was injured by those four rounds.

The Bihar government's response was filed before the Supreme Court in proceedings arising from petitions alleging excessive use of force by police during protests associated with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led movement in New Delhi.

According to the state's affidavit, the AK-47 incident took place on July 25 near JP Chowk in Siwan.

The constable, Abhishek Kumar, was allegedly surrounded by protesters during the confrontation. The state told the Supreme Court that he "got trapped in the crowd" and fired four rounds from his AK-47 "in the air" in an attempt to deal with the situation.

The Bihar government said none of the protesters was injured as a result of that particular firing. The state did, however, acknowledge that three protesters suffered minor firearm injuries during the police action that day. It specifically disputed any connection between those injuries and Kumar's AK-47.

According to the affidavit, the three injured protesters were not present at the location from which Kumar fired the rifle. The government, therefore, maintained that the injuries could not have been caused by the four rounds fired by him.

The affidavit also referred to another instance of firing during the protests. Assistant Sub-Inspector Nilesh Kumar Singh allegedly fired two rounds from his 9mm pistol near Hathi Chowk in an effort to disperse the crowd.

The state has told the Supreme Court that the police exercised restraint during the protests and did not use disproportionate force against demonstrators.