JJD chief Tej Pratap Yadav detained during protest in support of Bihar bandh

PATNA: Janshakthi Janta Dal (JJD) chief Tej Pratap Yadav was on Saturday detained by Bihar police after he joined NEET paper leak protestors during Bihar Bandh in Patna, officials said.

Shortly after Yadav joined protestors during a sit-in protest at Ram Gulam Chowk in Patna, he was detained and taken away in a police vehicle.

Before being taken away by the police, Yadav, clinging to the vehicle door, said, "We are standing shoulder to shoulder with the students. If need be, I am willing to die for the students' rights." No police officers were immediately available for comment.

Yadav had joined the protest and extended his support for the bandh.

Before joining the protests, Yadav, former Bihar minister and elder son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, had reiterated the protesting students' demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Members of left-wing student organisations held demonstrations and clashed with police in several districts of Bihar on Saturday in support of the statewide bandh against the NEET paper leak and police action on protesting students, officials said.

The bandh elicited a mixed response across the state, with districts like Patna witnessing stone pelting, while Nalanda, Nawada, Jehanabad, and Rohtas had little impact, police said.