Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) leader Prashant Kishor, who had been on a fast-unto-death since January 2 to demand the cancellation of a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam, was arrested early on Monday.

Kishor was sent to judicial custody for 14 days after he refused to take bail.

Kishor had been on a fast-unto-death in support of the students demanding the cancellation of the BPSC civil services preliminary examination conducted on December 13 over an alleged paper leak and other irregularities.

The administration had registered an FIR against him and his supporters on the first day of the fast for staging a demonstration without permission.

It had registered an FIR against him and his party members on December 29 for allegedly inciting students to protest against the BPSC and march to the chief minister’s residence, during which police had resorted to lathi charge and used water cannons on the protesters.

The police arrested the poll-consultant-turned-politician at 4am from the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on the charges of staging a dharna (sit-in protest) in a prohibited area without permission and obstructing public servants from duty.

Kishor was sleeping, along with other JSP supporters, in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the severe cold weather. Allegedly, he was forcibly dragged away without warm clothes. His spectacles were broken and his companions were roughed up.

Kishor was bundled up in an ambulance and moved across various places in Patna district under heavy security, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna, Naubatpur, Pitwas, and other places on the pretext of medical examination.

Kishor’s supporters turned up everywhere. The police had to resort to the use of mild force outside AIIMS Patna to disperse the crowd.

The police produced the JSP leader in the court on Monday afternoon.

The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Aarti Upadhyaya granted him bail on a personal bond of ₹25,000 and on the condition that he would not indulge in any protest in the prohibited areas by the administration.

Kishor refused to furnish the bond and take the bail with the accompanying conditions on the ground that it would be against the right to protest accorded to the people by the Constitution of India. The court sent Kishor to a 14-day judicial custody and forwarded him to jail.

“The fast-unto-death will continue in the jail till the government does not resolve the issue. I have been surviving on water for the past five days. I will not bow down. If I do so, these people will become emboldened. They had thought they would produce me in the court, I will get bail and the agitation would fizzle out,” Kishor told reporters outside the district court premises.

The JSP leader said that the entire campaign was a part of the fight to uproot the “lathi tantra” (stick system) being run by chief minister Nitish Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).