In a bizarre turn of events, a policeman in Bihar accidently hit a senior official, dressed in civil clothes, with a stick during the 'Bharat Bandh' protests on Wednesday.
The incident happened on the busy Dak Bangla crossing in Patna, where the policemen were baton-charging protestors, who blocked intersections at the Bihar capital.
A video of the incident showed the policemen chasing away protestors and one of the personnel hitting a protestor who was standing beside the SDM. The police personnel confused the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) for a protestor and hit him with a stick after which the cops immediately intervened. The jawans then escorted the SDM away from the scene.
The video shows the policeman apologising to SDM Shrikant Kundlik Khandekar, who was standing in the middle of the road and was dispersing the protestors.
The incident happened shortly after protestors broke barricades at the JP Golambar intersection and reached Dak Bangla. The police in order to control the situation resorted to a lathi-charge.
The video immediately went viral on social media even as internet users found amusement in the unintended target of the police's lathi charge.
The protesters disrupted train services at Darbhanga and Buxar railway stations and blocked traffic in Patna, Hajipur, Darbhanga, Jehanabad and Begusarai districts following which police lathi-charged to spread them.
In Patna, the cops chased away crowds who blocked traffic at Dak Bungalow Chowk. Patna SSP Rajeev Mishra said no one was injured in the incident and the situation is under control now.
Independent Lok Sabha MP Rajesh Ranjan, also known as Pappu Yadav, led demonstrations in Patna and other areas, criticising the NDA government’s stance on SC/ST reservations.
The nationwide bandh was called by 21 organisations across the country in response to the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this month allowing states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for granting quotas within these groups.