Protesting Job Aspirants Lathicharged, Detained During Jammu Road Blockade

Protests were being held simultaneously in Jammu and Srinagar.

Srinagar:

Scores of protesting job aspirants were detained as the police resorted to lathi-charge during attempts to block roads in Jammu on Wednesday.

Hundreds of young job aspirants were protesting against a backlisted agency engaged by the Jammu and Kashmir administration to conduct recruitment exams for government jobs.

The agency has been blacklisted by several states in the country and a court had imposed penalty on it for alleged fraud and manipulations in recruitments.

Protests were being held simultaneously in Srinagar demanding fair exams and transparent recruitment process.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the police action and said the job aspirants were exercising their democratic right to protest.

“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the use of force & lathi charge against students & JKSSRB aspirants. These youngsters were exercising their democratic right to protest against the recent decision to engage a blacklisted firm #Aptech by JKSSRB,” tweeted the National Conference leader.

The recruitment for government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir had been riddled with scams for last few years and several recruitment lists were scrapped following allegations of corruption and paper leaks.

The CBI is probing at least four alleged recruitment scams in the Union territory the since last year.