On July 27, the Bihar government said it would withdraw all police complaints against students who had taken part in protests demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

This was in keeping with the agreement between the central government and the Cockroach Janta Party, a satirically named outfit, that had led month-long protests in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding Pradhan’s ouster for failing to stop question paper leaks of India’s centralised medical entrance test.

The CJP agreed to call off the protests after Pradhan resigned and after the Narendra Modi government agreed to withdraw cases against protestors.

But two days after the Bihar government’s announcement, hundreds of families were still lined up outside the Beur Central Jail in Bihar’s Patna on Wednesday, waiting for relatives to be released.

Among them was Mukesh Kumar, a teenager from the state capital. Kumar was waiting for Jairam, his elder brother, who had been arrested on July 25 from a protest in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan.

Jairam, a Class XII student, had gone to Gandhi Maidan to lend support to the campaign in Delhi by the Cockroach Janta Party.

“It has been five days since they have kept him inside the jail,” Kumar said. “Is he a criminal that you are keeping him in jail with thousands of convicted criminals? Is this how you treat an innocent 18-year-old?”

In Bihar, the crackdown on the protests was among the fiercest, with clashes breaking out between students and police officials in many places. Close to 700 students were arrested or detained, including over 300 underage protestors.

As Scroll had reported, two bystanders __had been shot __by the police in Siwan as it opened fire on the protests.

The police action in Bihar has been criticised as excessive and sweeping by several Opposition politicians.

Jairam was among 144 people arrested in a case of an alleged attack on the police. He was charged under sections related to rioting, attempt to murder, waging war against India, among others. The FIR also named 5,000 unidentified persons.

Scroll spoke to several families outside the Patna central jail, who recounted how their relatives were picked up from protests, without their families being informed of their whereabouts. Many of them had been detained for close to five days.

K Suhita Anupam, the additional director-general (law and order) Bihar, told Scroll that the police no longer have any role to play after the arrested have been sent to judicial custody.

“It is now with the courts,” she said. “The state’s advocate general has already written to the district magistrates and public prosecutors in relation with the withdrawal of all the cases related to [the students’] protests.”

‘He will definitely go to jail’

Jairam was standing on a footpath near Gandhi Maidan, when a group of police officials charged towards them, according to a friend who accompanied him to the July 25 protest.

“When he took out his phone and tried to take a video of the police, around 10 policemen started to beat him,” the friend said. “They caught his collar and threw away his phone. Two female constables also grappled with me but I was released.”

Jairam was taken away by the police.

For about three hours, his friend said she got no information of his whereabouts.

“After three hours, he called us from the Digha police station,” she said. But when she reached there, the police officials did not allow her to meet Jairam, nor did they release him.

His brother Mukesh Kumar said that when he went to the police station the next day on July 26, they warned him that his brother was in big trouble.

“When I showed them his photo, the police said he will definitely be sent to jail. Neta ban raha tha tumhara bhai, video bana raha tha,” he said. Your brother was trying to be a leader, he was making a video.

When Mukesh met him in the jail on Wednesday, he saw an injury mark on his face. “He was hit by the police before being taken away.”

‘He is an engineer, not a goon’

Camping outside the Patna central jail on Wednesday was Nutan Kumari, whose brother had also been arrested from the Gandhi Maidan protest on July 25.

Deepak Kumar, a 28-year-old civil engineer who works in Tamil Nadu, had gone to the protest out of curiosity and not to take part, his sister said.

But when he saw a driver with the Rapido platform being stopped and beaten up by the police, he took out his phone to shoot a video.

“He just said, ‘Dekhiye kaise yeh log lathi charge kar rahe hain beguuna Rapido logo parr’,” she said. See how the police are hitting innocent Rapido boys.

Angered, the police dragged him and took him away, Nutan claimed.

For about 28 hours, the family did not know about his whereabouts. “We only got to know on July 26 around 4 pm that the police had picked him up,” she said.

Nutan said she was shocked to know that Deepak has been charged with attempting to murder a police officer. The FIR against him and 144 others will be withdrawn, according to the Bihar government.

When Nutan met him on Tuesday, she said he broke into tears. “My brother is an engineer. He is not a goon. He only tried to expose how the police were beating up innocents. For that, will you arrest him under attempt to murder charges?”

No information

None of the families had been informed by the police about the arrests, they told Scroll.

According to Sections 47 and 48 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which outline mandatory legal safeguards during an arrest without a warrant, the police must immediately tell the person the grounds for arrest and notify a nominated relative or friend about the arrest and detention location.

“I only got to know on July 26 morning that my brother had been taken to the Hawai Adda police station,” Prince Kumar, a resident of Begusarai, told Scroll.

His younger brother, Piyush Kumar, a 19-year old student, had gone to buy books near Gandhi Maidan on July 25 when he was arrested. He has been in custody for five days.

“After 48 hours, his medical [examination] was done and he was produced before the magistrate,” Prince said. “As per protocol, the family should be informed within 24 hours of the arrest. But they did not.”

Prince Kumar criticised the excessive response of the police to the protest. “Even if he was participating in the protest, he is within his rights to do so. We have the right to protest. If the government wants to bulldoze it, then it is wrong.”

‘I was made to sign a bond’

Among the 300-odd underage protestors detained across Bihar was Sofia, who had taken part in the protest in Gandhi Maidan on July 25.

“I thought ki desh ki liye kuch karo,” she told Scroll. I thought let’s do something for the country.

The Class 12 student’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Sofia said she was attacked when she tried to stop police officials from beating up another girl at the protest.

“As I was trying to save her, about 10 female constables broke two lathis on our bodies,” she said.

Sofia and seven girls were taken to the Rupaspur police station, where she was detained for 30 hours, she said.

She was released only after the police made her sign a bond, which she could barely read through. “Our Constitution gives us the right to raise our voices and protest,” Sofia said. “But I am not sure whether I can protest anymore. They made me sign a bond and the police warned me that bad things will happen to me if I attend a protest.”

All photographs by Rokibuz Zaman.

We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.