6 Layers of Barricades for a 5-km March: How the Ranchi Violence Unfolded

A crowd of roughly 8,000 protesters managed to reach the Assembly, but not without violent clashes.

6 Layers of Barricades for a 5-km March: How the Ranchi Assembly Gherao Unfolded

(Photo: The Quint)

“It's the Chief Minister's birthday today. We just want to go to the Vidhan Sabha to wish him,” said Ajay Mahto, who reached the old Vidhan Sabha House at 9:30 am, from where the students' march to the Jharkhand Assembly was to begin.

Journalists thronged the venue, protesters raised slogans against Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and police vans poured in. Little did anyone know that the first showdown with the police would come barely 50 metres after the march began.

For days, leaders across the two protest sites had been constantly appealing to protesters and students across the state to reach Ranchi for the march, which had been called as a peaceful protest. With the Assembly just 5 km away, the initial security presence was modest compared with the number of protesters who had gathered.

A crowd of roughly 8,000 protesters eventually managed to reach the Assembly – but not without violent clashes, lathi-charges on protesting students, the use of water cannons and tear gas.

How the Day Unfolded

The protesters came across six layers of barricades between the old Vidhan Sabha House and the Assembly, with the security presence getting heavier with each one.

The security deployment comprised of personnel from the Jharkhand police, the Jharkhand Jaguar, and the Rapid Action Force.

First, the protesters were stopped merely 50 metres after the march began. After an hour-long face-off, they were allowed to move ahead.

Then came the second layer of barricades, which the students breached as well.

The first sign of a possible crackdown came at the third layer of barricades near the iconic Jagannath Temple, with both water-cannon and tear-gas vehicles parked on the other side.

However, the number of police personnel was meagre compared with the number of protesters, which had swelled by this point.

As the protesters breached this layer, they encountered the fourth layer of barricades about 200 metres away, fitted with barbed wire. The protesters, however, climbed the hill next to the spot to cross over.

Then came the fifth layer, where the barricades were again fitted with barbed wire. Here, the police used water cannons for the first time. The protesters broke through this layer too, eventually reaching the final set of barricades.

From this point on, the face-off between the two sides lasted several hours.

Two rounds of lathi-charge and several rounds of tear-gas shelling took place here. There were several altercations, and tempers ran high after the first lathi-charge. Yet protesters continued to find ways to reach the Vidhan Sabha.

Many took alternate routes, crossed fields and climbed walls to make their way to the Assembly gates. They raised slogans, with some declaring that they would not leave until the government agreed to a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the examinations.

By then, the monsoon session had ended and the MLAs had already left the Assembly.

At around 7 pm, protesters, including JLKM leader Devendra Nath Mahto, were forcefully removed from the Assembly premises.

The police, meanwhile, said they were merely retaliating against certain elements who were attempting to breach what they described as a peaceful protest.

While the Jharkhand government has agreed to most demands of protesters, the biggest point of contention remains the demand of CBI probe of the irregularities.

The CID also arrested former Jharkhand Public Service Commission chairman L Khiangte as part of an ongoing investigation.