Bihar Bandh Called on July 25 After Police Action During NEET Protest, Arrests Made
The All India Students’ Association (AISA) has called for a state-wide ‘Bihar Bandh’ on July 25, 2026, following a police lathi-charge on student protesters in Patna on July 22. The protests were part of a larger agitation demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over an alleged NEET paper leak.
On July 24, protest marches and dharnas were held in multiple districts, including Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria, Darbhanga, Bettiah (West Champaran), Supaul, Jamui, Samastipur, Madhubani and Buxar. In Vaishali, protesters burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Tensions escalated in Jehanabad on July 23, when police fired 20 to 30 rounds after protesters pelted stones at the District Magistrate’s official residence. The Jehanabad Superintendent of Police (SP) released photographs of over 100 individuals sought for identification and legal action. On July 25, SP Kota Kiran Kumar led a flag march with 300 personnel, stating that police are on high alert to maintain peace and that patrolling has been intensified at major intersections.
Similarly, Patna police published photographs of over 100 individuals accused of vandalising public property and assaulting police and media personnel during the July 22 demonstration at Gandhi Maidan and Income Tax Circle. A press statement from the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Patna said, “Some unruly elements attacked the police force, damaged police vehicles, and assaulted ordinary citizens and media personnel with sticks, batons, bricks, and stones.” The police urged the public to help identify the accused via phone numbers 0612-2217000 and 9939919191.
Heavy police deployment has been made across Bihar in anticipation of the AISA-called bandh. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI(ML)] Bihar State Secretary Kunal condemned the police action, calling it “suppression of democratic rights.” He claimed that police have taken action against peaceful student protests in 18 districts, and that the government is choosing repression over accountability. He also stated that AISA State Secretary Dipankar Mishra and State Vice-President Saba Afrin have been arrested in Patna, with no information on their whereabouts. Kunal demanded their unconditional release and called it a “blatant violation of the rule of law and civil rights.”
Kunal noted that fabricated cases have been filed against several AISA leaders and CPI(ML) members, including MLC Shashi Yadav and MLA Sandeep Saurabh. He extended the party’s moral support to the Bihar Bandh, appealing to students, youth, parents, and citizens to support the bandh peacefully and democratically. “The student community is urged to carry forward their movement in a completely peaceful, democratic, and lawful manner so that their voice reaches out to the entire society with greater strength,” he said.
