Police have been accused of using excessive force at the protests, including beating students with canes and firing tear gas to push back tens of thousands marching to parliament in the capital New Delhi on July 20.

In videos uploaded to social media by students and others, and confirmed by police, a policeman 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 âwhich deals with dreaded, hard-core criminalsâ, had been issued the assault rifle.

âThe AK-47 was used by the constable wrongly. It cannot be justified in any way,â Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters on Monday. âHe 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.â

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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiâs education minister resigned over the exam paper leaks on Saturday following nearly five weeks of protests by the youth Cockroach Janta Party.

OPPOSITION RAKES UP ISSUE IN PARLIAMENT

âIt 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,â opposition Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in parliament.

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

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.

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

âRight to express oneâs views and to demonstrate peacefully are fundamental freedoms of the citizens.â

(Reporting by Jatindra Dash and Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Hritam Mukherjee)