Amidst the chaos of the Bharat Bandh protests in Patna, Bihar, a bizarre incident unfolded when a policeman mistakenly hit the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Shrikant Kundlik Khandekar with a baton. The incident, which was captured on video and quickly went viral, showed a policeman swinging his baton at a group of protesters, only to inadvertently strike the SDM who was standing in the middle of the road attempting to disperse the crowd.
The video shows the SDM visibly agitated after being hit, with other policemen quickly realizing the mistake and stopping the officer. They escorted the SDM away from the scene, and the policeman can be seen apparently apologizing for the incident. The video, shared on X (formerly Twitter), garnered over 400,000 views and sparked widespread online discussions.
The incident occurred at the busy Dak Bangla square in Patna, where the police were forced to use lathi charge to control protesters who had blocked traffic. Rajeev Mishra, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patna, confirmed the use of force, stating that it was necessary to disperse the protesters who broke police barricades and disrupted vehicular movement. He assured that no injuries were reported, and the situation is now under control.
The Bharat Bandh, a nationwide protest, was organized by the ‘Reservation Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’ in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding caste-based reservations. The Supreme Court, in a seven-judge bench decision headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, ruled that state governments have the authority to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to grant quotas to more backward castes within those groups. The organizers of the Bharat Bandh are demanding that the Supreme Court judgment be reversed and the central government reject the ruling.
