Police fire tear gas as thousands protest Ranchi civil service exam

Police in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi fired tear gas and water cannons on Monday as thousands of students and job seekers tried to march toward the state assembly, demanding an overhaul of government exam rules.

The protests have raged for more than two weeks, sparked by a preliminary civil service exam held in April whose results were released last month. Candidates say leaked answer sheets posted online show top scorers answered far fewer questions than expected, fuelling claims the exam was rigged. The state government says it is investigating, but protesters say that is not enough—they want the entire selection process scrapped and rebuilt.

Video footage from the scene shows police forming tight barricades near the assembly gates. Officers say most demonstrators were peaceful, but a smaller group broke through, throwing stones and injuring three officers. Ranchi’s police chief, Paras Rana, told reporters that 90 percent of students were cooperative, yet a hard core kept defying even their own leaders. He insisted police used force only briefly and appealed for calm, saying the government is already listening.

The unrest in Ranchi mirrors wider anger across India over leaked exam papers and rigged results. Just weeks ago, thousands marched on parliament in Delhi as part of the “cockroach protests” led by the India’s Cockroach Janta Party, which collapsed after the education minister resigned on July 25. In Jharkhand, protesters have camped outside a stadium since July 25, sleeping in the open and staging hunger strikes. Despite the state government’s promise of an investigation and several concessions, demonstrators insist they will not leave until every demand is met. The immediate trigger is the Jharkhand Public Service Commission’s preliminary exam, but the deeper frustration is a system that many young Indians feel is stacked against them.