Railway Recruitment Board-NTPC exam row: Who is Patna's Khan Sir booked for inciting violence?

Image courtesy: ANI

Patna: The authorities in Bihar have registered an FIR against Khan Sir, a popular YouTuber, and five teachers for inciting violence over the controversy surrounding the results of tests conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board for the Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB NTPC) after violent protests in Patna.

The man in question - Khan Sir - is based in Patna and provides coaching for competitive examinations to aspirants. He has been accused of inciting violence during the violent protests by aspirants in Patna on Monday.

According to information, the FIR against Khn and five others has been registered at Patrakaar Nagar police station under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The FIR states that, on the basis of these statements and video clippings accessed by the police, it is evident that "agitating students along with coaching institute owners plotted a conspiracy to carry out large-scale violence in Patna to threaten law and order".

The job aspirants had blocked the New Delhi-Kolkata main railway tracks and some others protested in Bihar's Arrah and Sharif Railway station. Hundreds of angry protesters also allegedly set ablaze a train in Bihar’s Arrah.

In view of the protests in Bihar and UP, the Railways suspended its NTPC and Level 1 exams on Wednesday. With hundreds of candidates going on a rampage in some states alleging irregularities in the process, Union Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urged them not to destroy public property and assured redressal of their grievances.

The suspension of exams and the statement by the minister are being seen in certain quarters as a step down from the earlier decision to bar applicants found indulging in vandalism given that elections are due in five states, including the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh.

"I am telling the aspirants that this is their own property. Why are they destroying something that is their own? However, authorities will follow due process if public property is damaged," Vaishnaw said at a press conference.

The Railway Ministry also formed a high-level committee, headed by Deepak Peter Gabriel, the principal executive director of industrial relations in the ministry, to examine the aspirants' grievances.

Sources say it was the protests by the job aspirants in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh for two days and the fear that the agitation may fan out in other parts of the country through the aggressive social media campaigns being run by the candidates forced the Railways' hand.