Bihar Police Withdraws FIRs Against NEET Protesters Except Those With ‘Criminal Antecedents'
New Delhi: The Bihar police has begun the process of withdrawing FIRs registered against NEET paper leak protesters across the state. Of the 64 FIRs, 27 were in Patna while six each had been registered in Saran and Siwan, the Indian Express reported. Cases had also been filed in 15 other districts of the state, the report said.
On Tuesday, Bihar Advocate General SD Sanjay had sent a letter to district magistrates and public prosecutors asking them to comply with the Bihar government’s decision to withdraw cases filed against student protesters.
“As per [the] decision taken by [the] Government of Bihar regarding withdrawal of all cases registered before 6 pm of 26 July, 2026 against the protesting students of NEET-UG, the undersigned hereby requests all the public prosecutors of districts to proceed to ensure compliance of the government order”, Sanjay wrote.
According to the report, Bihar police has only withdrawn cases filed by their own officials and excluded the ones filed by other individuals.
The Bihar police had arrested or detained 694 people while the student agitation was on. Of these, 339 were minors and were released while 355 people remain in custody.
The state police also noted that cases against people with criminal antecedents were not being withdrawn. Siwan police said that such cases, filed against 21 people in the district, remain. Siwan is also the same district where the Bihar police came under scrutiny for the use of AK-47 against unarmed protesters.
“We have enough video and other material evidence against such people. People with known criminal records are not being let off as they have nothing to do with students’ protests,” a senior officer told the Indian Express, adding that they had identified all the suspects.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, however, alleged that several arrests were arbitrary. A senior party leader said several activists of the All India Students' Association remain in jail and that the police's claims cannot be accepted until all such detainees are released.
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