A police officer in India has been suspended for firing rounds in the air from an assault rifle to disperse student protesters.

It is the latest flashpoint in a wave of youth protests in which police have been accused of using excessive force, including beating students with canes and firing tear gas.

In videos uploaded to social media, and confirmed by police, a police officer in riot gear can be seen running towards a group of protesters in the eastern city of Siwan in Bihar state on Saturday, pointing an AK-47 at them and firing at least three shots in the air.

Senior Bihar police official Nilesh Kumar said no one was wounded and that a constable, part of an intelligence unit "which deals with dreaded, hard-core criminals", had been issued the assault rifle.

"The AK-47 was used by the constable wrongly. It cannot be justified in any way," Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters on Monday. "He used it wrongly, because they were students. There was no need of doing so. That is why he has been suspended. All sorts of actions will be taken against him."

The protests led to the resignation of India’s education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday after weeks of Gen Z-led protests.

The resignation marked the first major concession from prime minister Narendra Modi’s government after a movement led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) resulted in weeks of nationwide demonstrations, sit-ins, and hunger strikes.

The protests were triggered by the leakage of question papers for a national medical college entrance exam in May, taken by more the 2 million students, and forcing a re-test.

There are other issues, mainly youth unemployment and fear among the young that AI could take their jobs in places such as IT back offices that India is known for, analysts say.

Congress party chief condemns ‘grave assault on democracy’

"It is one of the gravest assaults on democracy in our history. Never before have students been beaten, dragged, and treated like criminals for raising their voices," opposition Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in parliament.

"In Bihar, reports indicate use of AK-47 against students. Those responsible cannot escape accountability."

Government ministers did not respond before both houses of parliament were adjourned amid a noisy row over the issue.

Criticism of the police actions has been widespread.

"It will not be an exaggeration to say that public space for expressing divergent opinion is shrinking in India," Supreme Court Judge Ujjal Bhuyan said in a speech on Saturday, in a rare such comment by a sitting judge of the country's highest court.

"Right to express one's views and to demonstrate peacefully are fundamental freedoms of the citizens."