WATCH: Mob tries to set school bus with students onboard on fire in Bihar

Bharat Bandh: One of the men was seen burning a tyre right under the bus. The attempt, however, was thwarted by the police

A video showing a school bus being attacked by a mob is being circulated on social media, purportedly to set it on fire with children onboard.

One of the men was seen burning a tyre right under the bus. The attempt, however, was thwarted by the police. The incident took place during the Bharat Bandh call in Bihar’s Gopalganj on Wednesday.

Horrific visuals from Gopalganj, Bihar during failed #BharatBand.

A school bus was attempted to be torched with children sitting inside ????

pic.twitter.com/GWckoqsdOK

— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) August 21, 2024

The protesters also caused disruptions to train services at the Darbhanga and Buxar railway stations. Swarn Prabhat, SP Gopalganj, told NDTV that a high alert had been issued due to the Bharat bandh. He also said a large police contingent and magistrates had been deployed at various locations in the town.

 

The impact of Bharat Bandh was seen in other districts as well. Traffic flow was disrupted in several districts including – Patna, Hajipur, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Purnea, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, and Begusarai. In many places, the police employed baton charges to disperse the protesters and restore order in the affected areas.

The Patna district administration has released a statement confirming that the Patna police filed three FIRs and took nine individuals into custody for allegedly taking matters into their own hands during the protests.

What was the reason behind Bharat Bandh call?

The Bharat Bandh was called by 21 organisations across the country in response to the Supreme Court’s August 1 ruling allowing states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for granting quotas within these groups.

The apex court's majority verdict held that such sub-classifications are permissible to benefit more underprivileged castes within these categories. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and several other members of the INDIA bloc expressed their backing for the bandh.