Students among AAP protesters under detention for 4 days in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Ninety-three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists, including nearly ten college students, were arrested and put in the Sabarmati Central Prison for the last four days for protesting against an alleged leak of question paper for a Gujarat government job, The Indian Express (TIE) reported. The arrestees were protesting before BJP headquarters in Ahmedabad regarding the clerical staff's exam's question paper leak.

Sourcing from court papers and AAP leaders, TIE reports that the arrestees were charged with 22 sections of IPC. The charges include criminal conspiracy (120b), causing hurt (323) and assault on public servants (353), while sixty-five males were additionally charged with sexual harassment (IPC 354 a). Defence lawyers say they might earn a cumulative of seven years jail term.

Meanwhile, AAP's legal counsel said that 28 women out of them got conditional bail on Friday. The bail hearing of the 65 males is scheduled on Monday, it added. Six of the arrested were aged between 18 and 19.

Nearly 500 supporters had gathered before BJP's Shree Kamalam office in Gandhinagar, demanding the ouster of BJP's Asit Vora, chairman of Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB), which conducted the test in question.

The protesters alleged that the question paper for the test- with 88,000 candidates appearing for 16 vacancies- was sold ahead of the exam for 8 to 12 lakhs.

But the government had annulled the exam and rescheduled it. But the Monday's protest triggered clashes between protesters and BJP activists, which ended in police resorting to lathi-charge to drive the protesters away.

Later, police lodged an FIR on protested AAP representatives and other 500 unknown people based on a woman BJP worker's complaint. Protesters were accused of forced entry into the BJP office, assault on police and committing damage to police vehicles.